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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump set to takeover nation's capital, seizing the city on a lie - Moving on now from threatening migrants to Americans

...Trump is going full dictator with tanks and military troops roaming the city and intimidating residents like it's an occupied country.
It's bad enough that his commandeered troops will be harassing residents, but he's taken to threatening the homeless on the streets, poised to basically criminalize poverty by targeting the poorest inhabitants of the city.
"The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong," Mr. Trump wrote in a Sunday morning Truth Social post accompanied by photos of roadside encampments and garbage.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-says-homeless-should-leave-dc-immediately-after-floating-federal-takeover/ar-AA1KgpkW
Trump has moved on from falsely claiming immigrants pose an 'emergency' which has allowed him to slide past obliging and acquiescing judges and justices by invoking the 'Alien Enemies Act,' which is supposed to only go into effect whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion or predatory incursion shall be perpetrated, attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government.
Trump never provided any clear evidence that any foreign government was directing any immigrant to come to the U.S., much direct an 'invasion' involving the people ICE is arresting, detaining, and deporting.
We still have just the administration's word that the people they're deporting are dangerous criminals, like the sad, dehumanizing farce of spiriting those men away to a death camp in Venezuela on the yet unproven, and mostly debunked claims they were all gang members.
Tomorrow Trump will be focusing his totalitarianism on American citizens; removing residents presumption of innocence; denying their self-determination through their city representatives; eviscerating any of the comity and cooperation from community policing and destroying trust with police throughout the city built up for decades; and most importantly, suspending expectations of due process for those who come into contact with these military forces directed against American people.
It's a prelude to the imposition of martial law in the entire country. If Trump can 'take over' a city with troops using flimsy, and provably false justifications like crime-fighting in a city that is already doing the job, he can send troops into every city and take away rights by fiat and falsehoods which should be guaranteed and sacred.
The post, originally shared by a user named Extremely Stable Genius, features a black-and-white image of Abraham Lincoln along with a caption comparing modern-day sanctuary city mayors to Southern governors who rebelled during the Civil War. It goes further, suggesting that President Trump should declare martial law, arrest mayors, appoint military governors, and restore the rule of lawjust like Lincoln did.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-threatens-to-declare-martial-law-appoint-military-governors/ar-AA1JBaFF
Republicans used to claim they were the 'state's rights' party, even though it only applied to things they wanted to be free to impose on residents of states, and not applying their own pet impositions and mandates on Americans.
It's the same with this anti-constitutional imposition of federal troops in the nation's capital which is intended to impose a narrow and contrived set of restrictions and regulations which originate outside of the control of city residents, who are already often subject to the paternalism of southern representatives who consider themselves overseers of residents, like on one of their plantations.
Meanwhile, about 5,138 people are homeless in D.C., down 9% year-over-year, according to a tally conducted earlier this year by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
"We are not experiencing a spike in crime," D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday. "In fact, we're watching our crime numbers go down."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-says-homeless-should-leave-dc-immediately-after-floating-federal-takeover/ar-AA1KgpkW
___White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller claimed Washington, D.C. is more violent than Baghdad and parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world on Thursday after President Donald Trump threatened to federalize the city.
The president has been very clear that hes gonna take the action necessary to secure the city of Washington for the people who live here, for all the American people, and all who visit here, said Miller in an interview with NewsNations Kellie Meyer. Its our capital city, it is more violent than Baghdad, it is more violent than parts of Ethiopia and parts of many of the most dangerous places in the world.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/stephen-miller-absurdly-claims-dc-more-violent-than-baghdad-after-trump-bombshell/ar-AA1K8xDV
...this ignorant claim flies in the face of common sense, but it's also light years from the truth.
Baghdad is an extremely dangerous place, under a very high threat of terrorist attack and very high threat of kidnapping.
Our own U.S. Dept. of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs strongly advises Americans against travel to to Iraq:
Iraq - Level 4: Do Not Travel
Updated to reflect the lifting of ordered departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel.
Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and the U.S. governments limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in Iraq. Do not travel to Iraq for any reason.
Country Summary: U.S. citizens in Iraq face high risks, including violence and kidnapping. Terrorist and insurgent groups regularly attack Iraqi security forces and civilians. Anti-U.S. militias threaten U.S. citizens and international companies. Attacks using improvised explosive devices, indirect fire, and unmanned aerial vehicles occur in many areas, including major cities. The Department of State requires U.S. government personnel in Iraq to live and work under strict security due to serious threats.
There is risk of terrorist violence, including terrorist attacks and other activity in Iraq. Visit the U.S. Department of States country reports on terrorism to learn more.
Demonstrations, protests, and strikes occur frequently throughout the country. These events can develop quickly without prior notice, often interrupting traffic, transportation, and other services, and sometimes turn violent.
Do not travel near armed groups or Iraqs northern borders due to:
Continued threat of attacks by terrorist groups
Armed conflict
Aerial bombardment
Civil unrest
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/iraq-travel-advisory.html
...besides:
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.
In addition to the overall violent crime reduction, homicides are down 32%; robberies are down 39%; armed carjackings are down 53%; assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 27% when compared with 2023 levels, with the District reporting the fewest assaults with dangerous weapons and burglaries in over 30 years.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/violent-crime-dc-hits-30-year-low
...btw, Trump is also ordering mass detention camps on U.S. military bases:
The sprawling Army post in El Paso is expected to hold 5,000 people in tentlike facilities at full capacity, which would turn it into the largest detention facility in the United States for civil detainees.
Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also approved the temporary use of Camp Atterbury in Indiana and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey to house several thousand migrants before they are deported. Hegseth also green-lit a small expansion of detention beds at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Station in Cuba, the officials said, though the total number remains far lower than what President Donald Trump had planned for.
The detention centers on military bases will entrust the care of thousands of migrants to private contractors who have little or no experience detaining human beings, said Jennifer Ibañez Whitlock, senior policy counsel at the National Immigration Law Center. Acquisition Logistics Company, the contractor picked to run the 5,000-bed Fort Bliss site, has no previous experience running detention facilities, according to reporting by Bloomberg News. Last month, ProPublica reported that one of the subcontractors working on Fort Bliss is connected to a company that previously pleaded guilty to a scheme to hire undocumented workers.
Democratic lawmakers have expressed frustration with the military buildup as the Trump administration increasingly arrests immigrants who have never been convicted of a crime. The administration has decimated internal watchdog agencies that had monitored the governments enforcement activities for years. Lawmakers have alleged in court that officials have limited their oversight access to detention facilities.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/08/07/trump-fort-bliss-migrants-detention/
global1
(26,507 posts)D.C. crime as an excuse to arm the city.
He's not planning on leaving the WH when his term is over. He's setting the scene for a third term and beyond by getting his goons in place to protect him.
That's probably why he was on the WH roof scoping out where best to place his guards when the time comes.
bigtree
(94,672 posts)...he's on a well-publicized revenge streak, and Washington, D.C.'s residents have always lined up against his party and his candidacies.
I think the effort to remain in office would either be through a compliant Congress or another gift from the Supreme Court.
Johnny2X2X
(24,438 posts)The intent was always for these camps to house dissidents and undesirables after they get rid of the immigrants.
bigtree
(94,672 posts)...evidenced:
'Totally illegal': Trump escalates rhetoric on outlawing political dissent and criticism
This is out of the autocratic playbook. As autocrats consolidate their power once theyre in office, anything that threatens their power ... becomes illegal, historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat said.
Hes actually rehearsing, in a sense, what he would be doing as head of state, which is what Orban does, Modi is doing, Putin has long done, she said, referring to the leaders of Hungary, India and Russia, respectively. Just as theres a divide now because of this brainwashing about who is a patriot and who is a criminal about Jan. 6, right? In the same way, telling the truth in any area journalists, scientists, even people like me, anybody who is engaged in objective inquiry, prosecutors, of course they become criminal elements and they need to be shut down.
In a speech Friday in Aurora, Colorado, the Republican presidential nominee blasted the immigration system and lobbed a rhetorical grenade at his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Shes a criminal. Shes a criminal, said Trump, who was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial. She really is, if you think about it.
Its a pattern of messaging that has long been part of Trumps stump speeches but has escalated significantly in his 2024 candidacy. In the final stretch to the Nov. 5 election, the former president has developed a tendency to claim that speech he disapproves of is illegal, even if it is protected by the First Amendment.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/totally-illegal-trump-escalates-rhetoric-outlawing-political-dissent-c-rcna174280
Trump is Escalating Threats against Dissenters, Suggesting Jail
At a rally Monday in Pennsylvania, the former president said for at least the fourth time that criticizing judges and justices either is or should be illegal.
At a rally Monday in Pennsylvania, the former president said for at least the fourth time that criticizing judges and justices either is or should be illegal. And for what may be the first time, he directly said people who do so should go to jail, wrote Blake.
He noted that at the rally, the former president said anyone criticizing Supreme Court decisions should be put in jail
the way they talk about our judges and our justices, trying to get them to sway their vote, sway their decision.
https://shepherdexpress.com/news/features/trump-is-escalating-threats-against-dissenters-suggesting-ja/
Johnny2X2X
(24,438 posts)The people in charge have no limits on their ambition for power and no respect for the rule of law. We are looking at a dramatic shift in our form of government and it will last for a long time.
bigtree
(94,672 posts)..in the WH, the legislature, and the courts which are organized by those.
I recall the way the country shifted after the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, and the firm leadership from Johnson in making it clear that the federal government was to be on our side.
The country has lost that institutional memory of why they organized government around protecting rights, and I believe the nation is getting the hard part of that education today.
Johnny2X2X
(24,438 posts)And that means we're going to have to rely on Republicans to restore our freedoms at some point, not looking like that is possible any time soon.
...we clear now?
He took D.C. over on a lie.
This is tyranny.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump said on Monday he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and putting the city's police department under federal control, an extraordinary assertion of presidential power in the nation's capital.
Trump's move, which bypassed the city's elected leaders, was emblematic of his approach to his presidency, wielding executive authority in ways that have little precedent in modern U.S. history and in defiance of political norms.
The president cast his actions as necessary to "rescue" Washington from what he described as a wave of lawlessness, despite statistics showing that violent crime hit a 30-year low in 2024 and has continued to decline this year.
"I'm deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C.," Trump told a news conference at the White House. "Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-takes-over-dc-police-in-extraordinary-move-deploys-national-guard-in-capital/ar-AA1KkdEa
RedWhiteBlueIsRacist
(2,264 posts)
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