A whole bunch of protesters march to White Home on Aug. 16, 2025.
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Brian Mann/NPR
WASHINGTON — A whole bunch gathered peacefully within the nation’s capital on Saturday afternoon to protest President Trump’s tried takeover of the town’s police division and deployment of Nationwide Guard items alongside federal brokers.
Beginning with a rally within the northwest neighborhood of DuPont Circle, protesters chanted, “Disgrace” and “Trump should go now!” whereas demanding an finish to the “crime emergency” that Trump declared in an govt order on Monday.
Protesters later marched to the White Home, persevering with to chant, as D.C. Metropolitan Cops and Nationwide Park Service police appeared on from a distance.
Mason Weber of Maryland informed NPR he attended the march as a result of he was involved that the deployment of troops is a “critical moral and authorized breach.”
“Probably the most regarding factor about it’s there’s been no examine and steadiness of the programs of energy,” Weber mentioned. “Congress, if it involves it, we anticipate to authorize it for longer.”
A protester stands in entrance of Metropolitan Police Division officers and Nationwide Guard troops in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 16, 2025.
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The demonstration passed off two days after Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi tried to nominate Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as an “emergency police commissioner” who would assume full operational management over D.C. police. Trump officers backed off that effort on Friday after D.C. Lawyer Normal Brian Schwalb filed a lawsuit in federal court docket.
“The hostile takeover of our police power is just not going to occur — an important win for residence rule right this moment,” Schwalb informed reporters late Friday.
However individuals who marched on Saturday mentioned the profitable effort to stop the White Home from appointing an emergency police chief managed by Trump does not go far sufficient.
The deployment of the Nationwide Guard and Trump’s rising affect over D.C. police actions are being decried by D.C. residents — together with John Smith, who mentioned Trump is exaggerating in regards to the metropolis being riddled with crime.
“I believe he does not know what he is speaking about,” Smith mentioned. “I am a little bit previous white man and I stroll round safely on a regular basis.”
Catherine Ernst informed NPR she’s lived within the D.C. space for seven years and thinks it is necessary to indicate opposition. She was additionally hoping for a bigger turnout.
“It is rather a lot higher than mendacity down and letting it occur. We want extra folks within the motion to cease what’s occurring,” Ernst mentioned.
Sam Goldman, organizer of Saturday’s march and spokesperson for Refuse Fascism on Aug, 16, 2025.
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Sam Goldman, spokesperson for Refuse Fascism, a gaggle that helped manage the march, informed NPR that it is time for extra folks to make their voices heard.
“We’ve got to show the tide. We’ve got to get up all of the first rate folks on this nation, together with in Washington, D.C.,” Goldman mentioned. “Hundreds of thousands and tens of millions in our bones hate the whole lot that Trump and MAGA symbolize, the whole lot they’ve finished and the whole lot they’re doing.”
Goldman additionally mentioned her group is planning for extra protests in D.C. within the coming weeks.
Abigail Jackson, a spokeswoman for the White Home, informed NPR in a press release Saturday, “Solely D.C. liberals can be upset about efforts to cease violent crime — hopefully they have been paid effectively to beclown themselves in public like this.”
Protesters collect in entrance of the White Home on Aug. 16, 2025.
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In the meantime, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey, a Republican, mentioned on Saturday he has agreed to ship 300 to 400 of his state’s Nationwide Guard troops to D.C. to assist Trump’s crackdown. Over the weekend South Carolina’s governor additionally introduced he was sending 200 troops, whereas Ohio pledged 150.
Earlier within the week, Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott denied an analogous request for Nationwide Guard troops to assist the Washington deployment.
