DC residents are flooding social media with critical reality checks on Trump's takeover scheme. Local news is also doing important on the ground reporting.
Jennifer, this is an outstanding essay that cuts right through the spectacle and exposes it for what it is: authoritarian theater, not public safety. You’re absolutely right, this isn’t law enforcement, it’s propaganda dressed in fatigues.
A few facts really underscore your point. Arrest data from DC’s own Metropolitan Police show that overall crime is actually down since Trump’s federal incursion—so the “emergency” doesn’t exist outside of his spin machine. The Washington Post’s recent polling confirms what residents already know: 79% of DC opposes Trump’s order, and most say they feel less safe now. That tracks with history, federal deployments in Portland and Lafayette Square were also about intimidation, not safety.
It’s also crucial to note that many of these officers are unidentified and unbadged, a hallmark of “secret police” tactics. Civil liberties groups have warned that this violates constitutional protections and echoes authoritarian playbooks abroad. And the targeting of food delivery workers, many of them immigrants, makes clear this is about racialized harassment more than any genuine public threat.
What stands out in your piece is how residents and local journalists are fighting back with cameras, truth, and courage. That matters because while Trump has the armored vehicles and propaganda videos, DC’s people have the receipts, and they’re showing the world the reality behind the staged optics.
A country in peril does need journalists it can count on, and we also need voices like yours reminding us that democracy erodes not in one big moment, but in these smaller staged shows of power. Thank you for documenting it so clearly.
Thanks to all you brave folks documenting this brutality, illegal and corruption of law enforcement. Stay strong keep letting us know out here in Michigan and across the country.
![[Indistinct Chatter] by @NewsJennifer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZjVc!,w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feef61139-052b-41e0-b464-98e6c87993d1_256x256.png)
![[Indistinct Chatter] by @NewsJennifer](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wQKs!,e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F23adbeb1-d0c7-4a39-96c7-01a8a80e4f55_1344x256.png)
Excellent piece Jennifer and so important that local media continue to document and share facts
Jennifer, this is an outstanding essay that cuts right through the spectacle and exposes it for what it is: authoritarian theater, not public safety. You’re absolutely right, this isn’t law enforcement, it’s propaganda dressed in fatigues.
A few facts really underscore your point. Arrest data from DC’s own Metropolitan Police show that overall crime is actually down since Trump’s federal incursion—so the “emergency” doesn’t exist outside of his spin machine. The Washington Post’s recent polling confirms what residents already know: 79% of DC opposes Trump’s order, and most say they feel less safe now. That tracks with history, federal deployments in Portland and Lafayette Square were also about intimidation, not safety.
It’s also crucial to note that many of these officers are unidentified and unbadged, a hallmark of “secret police” tactics. Civil liberties groups have warned that this violates constitutional protections and echoes authoritarian playbooks abroad. And the targeting of food delivery workers, many of them immigrants, makes clear this is about racialized harassment more than any genuine public threat.
What stands out in your piece is how residents and local journalists are fighting back with cameras, truth, and courage. That matters because while Trump has the armored vehicles and propaganda videos, DC’s people have the receipts, and they’re showing the world the reality behind the staged optics.
A country in peril does need journalists it can count on, and we also need voices like yours reminding us that democracy erodes not in one big moment, but in these smaller staged shows of power. Thank you for documenting it so clearly.
First rate reporting, thank you Jennifer.
Thanks to all you brave folks documenting this brutality, illegal and corruption of law enforcement. Stay strong keep letting us know out here in Michigan and across the country.
Our younger daughter is studying at CUNY’s Craig Newmarket School to become an investigative journalist like yourself.
We need more voices like your own.
You and women like you are literally the “Voice of America” today.
Chicago is next.
We saw what soft-on-crime policy was like for the last 30 years and what it’s done to black communities. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but midnight basketball doesn’t work. https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/white-milksops-protest-in-dc-to-advocate