“Politicians who describe whole categories of persons as ‘criminals’ are imputing to them permanent character traits that are frightening to most people, while simultaneously positioning themselves as our protectors.” Jason Stanley, How Fascism Works, p. 115.
While the above quote works better to describe the way Trump talks about immigrants, it fits the way he frequently talks about crime in cities (after all, we know who lives in cities!, especially inner cities!). The whole frighten people/be seen as their protector dynamic is fully on display. The people of DC are unlikely to see it that way, but in terms of propaganda for the base watching on Fox News, this will be the real American President protecting the country from those people.
Via the BBC: Trump demands homeless people ‘immediately’ move out of Washington DC.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday. “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.”
Alongside photos of tents and rubbish, he added: “There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY.’ We want our Capital BACK. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The specifics of the president’s plan are not yet clear, but in a 2022 speech he proposed moving homeless people to “high quality” tents on inexpensive land outside cities, while providing access to bathrooms and medical professionals.
On Friday, Trump ordered federal agents – including from US Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the US Marshals Service – into Washington DC to curb what he called “totally out of control” levels of crime.
A White House official told NPR that up to 450 federal officers were deployed on Saturday night.
He seeks to cleanse the city, and is deploying federal law enforcement who do not exist, nor are they trained, for this kind of work.
There is also the fact that Trump’s view of the place is at odds with reality.
Mayor Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday: “It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023.
“We have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low.”
She criticised White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller for dubbing the US capital “more violent than Baghdad”.
“Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,” Bowser said.
Washington DC’s homicide rate remains relatively high per capita compared to other US cities, with a total of 98 such killings recorded so far this year. Homicides have been trending higher in the US capital from a decade ago.
But federal data from January suggests that Washington DC last year recorded its lowest overall violent crime figures – once carjacking, assault and robberies are incorporated – in 30 years.
Here’s a WTOP piece from December concerning crime in 2024: Violent crime in DC plummets to lowest level in 30 years.
Apparently, this was triggered by a single event.
Trump’s moves come after a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was assaulted in an alleged attempted carjacking in Washington DC.
Trump vented about that incident on social media, posting a photo of the bloodied victim.
That is, of course, awful. But it also is not a reason to deploy a mish-mash of 450 federal law enforcement officials who have better things to do than be beat cops or homeless camp clearers.
To add a little farce to all of this, the victim was the infamous Edward “Big Balls” Coristine. Here is a write-up about the crime and Trump’s response via WaPo: Trump threatens federal takeover of D.C. after attack on DOGE worker.
This is Trump playing the part of Big, Powerful Protector because he can. It is using federal law enforcement as a plaything. And it is propagating myths about urban areas and how crime-infested they are, and how only a strong man can fix them.
Also, but it needs to be said, federalizing the District would not mean the end of crime. This notion that crime goes away if there is some show of force is a timeworn trope of the right, but history and just genereal human experience would like a word.
Justin Glaw, writing at Public Notice (Crime is down. But Trump’s authoritarian power grabs are escalating.), notes the following, which includes a reference to an incident in Ohio that apparently is part of the administration’s crime narrative.
The events being seized upon by the White House and Republicans as evidence of surging crime have little to do with one another save for the fact that the victims are white. In the case of the brawl in Cincinnati, those “victims” may not be entirely innocent: two white men faced off against a largely Black crowd on July 26, with one of the men spewing a racial slur. The other white man involved may have been a willing combatant in the melee, slapping a Black man in the face and squaring off to fight, as seen in videos circulating online. (Police have disputed that the slap was the impetus of the brawl.)
All of this using “law and order” to foment more fear and “us v. them” politics, while all the while trying to gaslight the public about the crime rate and how to fix it.
Meanwhile, via Reuters: US military preparing for National Guard activation in Washington D.C., officials say.
One of the officials said it was unclear what exactly the troops would do, but could take part in efforts to protect federal agents or even carry out administrative tasks to free up law enforcement officials.
That’ll fix crime!
What we have here is a president wanting to burnish his Strong Man image by misusing federal assets as part of the ongoing narrative that cities, where a lot of Black people live, are out of control and need to be subdued. All while lying about the problem to boot.
Side note: this will not fix the homeless problem, and will likely make things even worse for those who are cleared out. (Kudos to The Guardian for this headline, Trump orders homeless he passed en route to golf course to leave Washington DC).
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Steven L. Taylor
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://www.outsidethebeltway.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
