On Monday, August 11th, President Trump declared a state of emergency in Washington D.C., took over the police force and deployed 800 National Guard troops to combat violent crime plaguing our nation’s capital. It should come as no surprise that Democrats were outraged by President Trump’s actions.
On January 3rd, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office of District of Columbia reported that total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years, according to data collected by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and announced by United States Attorney Matthew M. Graves.
There has been a lot of back and forth about how bad crime really is in Washington D.C. Many claim the crime rate has been declining, while at the same time, the Justice Department is investigating whether or not the police department manipulated crime data to make the numbers appear lower. It will be interesting to see what that investigation uncovers.
One thing is for certain, regardless of the alleged decrease in crime. Crime is rampant in Washington D.C. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, so far in 2025, there have been 1,305 robberies, 682 assaults with a dangerous weapon, 101 homicides and 58 cases of sex abuse. Since Trump deployed the National Guard, 465 arrests have been made.
Washington D.C. is the capital of America. It is a city rich in history and a city that welcomed over 27 million visitors in 2024. It’s a city where all of our highest ranking government officials work and call home and a city everyone should be able to visit without the fear of being mugged or carjacked.
The deployment of the National Guard to the capital isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength and the type of decisive action Americans expect when their government faces threats to order and safety. I’ve spent a lot of time in Washington D.C. over the last year and I can tell you there were numerous times I feared for my safety. That should never happen in our nation’s capital, or any city in America for that matter.
For years, Washington, D.C., has been treated by activist groups as a political battleground where rules are optional. Riots disguised as “protests” have damaged property, endangered lives and undermined faith in our institutions. The message has been clear: disrupt enough, destroy enough, and you might bend the system to your will.
That’s not democracy. That’s mob rule. And mob rule has no place in the United States.
The National Guard’s presence sends a different message. It sends a message of stability, deterrence and respect for the rule of law. These National Guard members protecting Washington D.C. are not political pawns. They are citizen-soldiers who understand that protecting our capital and government is protecting our citizens and national security.
It’s interesting how some of the loudest voices criticizing the deployment are the same ones who downplay the damage caused by previous unrest. To them, order is secondary to political optics. Law and order is the foundation of freedom. Without it, rights become meaningless, because no one is safe enough to exercise them freely. That is the state of the union in Washington D.C. and it’s time for change.
Washington D.C. represents every American, regardless of politics. When law enforcement needs backup to secure it, the National Guard is the right tool for the job. The alternative is leaving the streets vulnerable to intimidation and chaos and that is outright unacceptable.
The National Guard’s deployment is not an overreach or President Trump exercising dictatorship. It’s a reminder that, in America, peaceful protest is welcome, but anarchy will never be tolerated.
Cities throughout America should take notice. If you don’t control crime, are a sanctuary city or think it’s OK to release people who have been arrested back onto the streets with no bail, there will likely be action taken by the current administration. It’s time to take America’s beautiful cities back and put the people causing chaos and injuring or killing innocent Americans behind bars.