(Washington, DC) – United States President Donald Trump on August 11, 2025, announced the deployment of US National Guard troops in Washington, DC, claiming that “rising violence in the capital now urgently endangers public servants, citizens, and tourists, disrupts safe and secure transportation and the proper functioning of the Federal Government, and forces the diversion of critical public resources toward emergency response and security measures.” In fact, crime rates in Washington, DC, have been falling for years and the district government has not asked for military intervention.
The following statement can be attributed to Tanya Greene, US program director at Human Rights Watch:
“Involving the military in civilian law enforcement is dangerous and unwarranted. The Trump administration’s moves to deploy military forces in cities with populations primarily comprised of people of color, such as Los Angeles in June and now Washington, DC, exacerbate the potential for violence and cost millions of dollars that could be spent on basic services, like food and affordable housing, that many people desperately need. As we have seen around the world, military takeover of local law enforcement is a harbinger of authoritarianism. Leaders in the US and around the world should condemn these actions, which are a threat to everyone’s rights.”
