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President Trump’s decision to federalize Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department and deploy hundreds of National Guard troops was a bold, necessary move to restore order in the nation’s capital after a string of brazen crimes and attacks that local officials refused to adequately address. The president invoked emergency authority and put federal law enforcement in charge so Americans — not radical activists — can walk safely through our capital again.
The move rests on legal authority that allows the president to step in during a declared emergency, a tool our leaders should never be shy about using when cities descend into chaos and local leaders choose political theater over public safety. Critics scream about “home rule,” but the Home Rule Act itself contains provisions for emergencies, and the federal government has both the right and the duty to protect federal property and the people who live and work here.
Patriotic soldiers and Guardsmen have been doing the hard work on the streets, and they deserve our gratitude — not spit and harassment. Last month a Maryland lawyer allegedly rode up on a scooter and deliberately spat on two South Carolina National Guard members patrolling near Union Station; he was arrested on federal charges, and this is exactly the kind of contemptible behavior the deployment is stopping. The men and women in uniform didn’t sign up for abuse; they signed up to keep Washington running and Americans safe.
Officials in the Justice Department and the White House point to hundreds of arrests and dozens of guns taken off the streets since federal forces went to work, evidence that the crackdown is producing results where soft-on-crime city governments have failed. For those who gnash their teeth and call this a “power grab,” ask the victims of violent crime whether they want more lectures or fewer shootings, and listen to the answer. Our priority must be protecting law-abiding citizens, not coddling criminals.
Of course the left and their media allies howl about “unprecedented” federal action and paint any effort to restore law and order as authoritarian overreach, but their outrage rings hollow when you remember how often they begged for federal help when riots threatened their neighborhoods. This is politics as usual from people who value narratives over neighborhoods and headlines over human life; calling men and women who confront criminals “deranged” while defending the criminals themselves shows whose side they’re on.
Hardworking Americans should stand squarely behind the troops and federal officers keeping our capital safe, and they should demand the same courage and common-sense policies in every city across this country. If political leaders refuse to govern, the federal government must be willing to act — and citizens must back those actions that make our streets safe again. It’s time to stop apologizing for law and order and start celebrating the people who deliver it.
