The District of Columbia has been under siege from the military and federal law enforcement since August 2025. Trump and his MAGA henchmen are using D.C. not only as a testing ground for national policy, but as a fascist playground to terrorize its 700,000 residents, who are predominantly people of color.

Mayor Muriel Bowser extended the “crime emergency” to indefinitely cooperate with Trump’s “Safe and Beautiful” Task Force, created by executive order in March. D.C. police have continued working with federal agents, including assisting in immigration enforcement in violation of the Sanctuary Values Act. The mayor, police chief, and D.C. council set up curfew zones across the city that target Black youth. Meanwhile, the National Guard, including troops sent in from seven other states, have been roaming D.C. streets and are ordered to stay at least through February 2026.

An extreme increase in arrests and detentions have taken place since August, overwhelming the courts and jails, with a large number of cases not leading to convictions. The infamous “Sandwich Guy,” a Department of Justice worker who threw a Subway sandwich at a Border Patrol agent on U Street, is one example of a case getting dismissed but still costing someone their job and their livelihood. Many of these arrests have been minor offenses, which typically result in a citation, but now have resulted from jump outs, stop and frisks, and an overwhelming show of force in communities all across the District, instilling a sense of fear.

The response from our local government has been inconsistent. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has won two key lawsuits against the Trump administration — for D.C. control over its police force and to remove the National Guard deployment in the District. These efforts and victories should be celebrated, especially since Mayor Bowser urged him not to pursue them.

Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau held a roundtable hearing in October on human rights abuses by federal law enforcement in D.C. Residents shared powerful stories, especially by those directly impacted, but she said the Council has limited ability to fight back. Councilmember Robert White has spoken out at rallies, and Councilmember Janeese Lewis George has responded quickly to federal law enforcement in her ward. These efforts from local officials are a good start, but they are not enough to address the terror and trauma caused by the occupation.

At the same time, reporting from The Washington Post and other media outlets shows evidence of cover-ups and public statements by the Mayor and police chief that do not match the facts. The case of Phillip Brown is especially alarming. In October, federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations shot into his car during a traffic stop, nearly killing him. In court, a D.C. police officer testified that he had been told to deny any officer-involved shooting had happened. Brown’s charges were later dropped. This is only one example.

Since August, there have been five killings involving D.C. police or federal agents, including three within four days in mid-November. The Mayor has largely ignored community demands to stop collaborating with Trump’s racist agenda and has lied to the public about collaboration with immigration enforcement.

D.C. has also imposed youth curfews, with or without support of the D.C. council, which have overwhelmingly targeted Black youth. At the same time, Mayor Bowser and the Council have cut funding for recreation programs, after school support, and youth employment, even as unemployment grows in the District. Instead of investing in anti-poverty programs that address the real cause of youth crime and childhood poverty, like fully free transit, universal childcare, and a guaranteed jobs program for youth, the city has largely relied on criminalization.

D.C. cannot be allowed to serve as a testing ground for Trump’s fascist policy. Residents are afraid to go to work, go to school, and to live a normal life without fear of harassment or detention by federal agents. The Communist Party of the District of Columbia demands that Mayor Bowser and the Council defend all D.C. residents, documented and undocumented, who are under assault from the federal occupation.

Our immediate demands:

• End local participation with federal occupation by: a) withdrawing MPD from Trump’s task force & b) closing the loophole in the Sanctuary Values Act that allows for collaboration with ICE;
• Protect and support D.C. youth by restoring and expanding funding for recreation centers, after-school programs, and the Summer Youth Employment Program;
• Increase police accountability by unmasking federal and local law enforcement as was done in California, banning police jump-outs and flying checkpoints, and reforming Civilian Advisory Councils into Civilian Accountability Councils;
• Protect immigrants by passing policy to create ICE-free Zones like in Chicago;
• Stop criminalizing fare evasion and move toward a fare-free Metro.

Images: End the Occupation by Free DC (Facebook); Nobody’s Free Until Everybody’s Free by FreeDC (Creative Commons).