VIDEO. Thousands of people protested to “release” Washington DC, where Trump took the troops of the National Guard. “Resist the tyranny”
Several thousand protesters marched on Saturday in Washington, DC, to ask US President Donald Trump to put an end to the troops of the National Guard patrolling the streets of the American capital, reports Reuters.
Trump has promised harsh measures in other cities led by Democrats, threatening Chicago with deporting immigrants to a post on social networks, accompanied by an image that parodies the 1979 film about the Vietnam War, “Apocalypse Now”.
The protesters from the “We have all DC” march, among which were immigrants without acts and supporters of the Palestinian state, chanted slogans against Trump and wore banners that wrote “Trump must leave now”, “release DC” and “resist the tyranny”.
“I am here to protest against DC employment,” said Alex Laufer. “We oppose the authoritarian regime and we must remove the federal police and the national guard from our streets.”
Claiming that crime affects the city, Trump sent troops last month to “restore the law, public order and safety.”
Citizens has protesting Against Donald Trump's Takeover of Washington, DC pic.twitter.com/gpqbrvcxsx
– Pop Crave (@popcrave) September 6, 2025
Trump also placed the Metropolitan Police Department of the Capital District under direct federal control and sent federal law enforcement, including members of the immigration and customs service, to supervise the city streets, measures that the critics have convicted, considering that they exceed the federal competences.
The data of the Department of Justice showed that in 2024 violent crime has reached the lowest level of the last 30 years in Washington, an autonomous federal district under the jurisdiction of the US Congress.
The National Guard responds to the governors of the 50 states, unless it is called in the federal service. The National Guard in DC reports directly to the president.
Trump wants to send the National Guard in Chicago
Trump said on Tuesday that he will send troops from the National Guard and to combat Chicago crime, an extraordinary militarization effort of the third largest city in the country, which could trigger a legal battle with local officials.
The governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, told Trump's speech that he learned from reporters that the administration “gathered ICE agents and military vehicles and that there are more ICE agents.”
“What he is trying to do in DC is what other dictatorships are trying to do,” said Casey, who refused to give his last name. “Test Washington and, if people will tolerate enough, they will do the same in more and more areas. So we have to stop them as much as we can.”
Over 2,000 soldiers, including six states run by Republicans, patrol the city. It is not clear when their mission will be completed, although the army has extended this week's orders for the Washington National Guard until November 30.
Complaint in court
Washington's General Prosecutor Brian Schwalb filed a complaint on Thursday requesting the blocking of the troops, arguing that he is unconstitutional and violates several federal laws.
However, some inhabitants welcomed the presence of the National Guard and asked for the troops in the less wealthy areas of the city, where crime is growing. The National Guard was visible especially in the city center and in the tourist areas.
The mayor of Washington, DC, Muriel Bowser, praised Trump's decision to send federal law enforcement to the city, but said he hopes that the National Guard's mission will soon end.
Bowser said that, since the arrival of troops, a drastic crime decrease has been registered, including car thefts. The mayor signed this week an order asking the city to coordinate the actions with the federal law enforcement forces.
Trump played golf on his field outside Washington and was not at the White House when the protesters marched on Saturday.
But he seems to have intensified the pressure on the city of Chicago in a post on the SA TRUTH Social platform, in which he wrote: “I like the smell of deportations in the morning”, parodying a reply from the 1979 film.
“Chicago is about to find out why the war department is called,” wrote the US president, referring to his new order to rename the Pentagon.
The post was accompanied by an image seemingly generated by artificial intelligence, in which Trump was dressed as a military officer in the film, with fighting helicopters and explosions in the background.
