Thousands protest for a 'Free DC' on the fourth week of federal control
in Washington
[September 08, 2025]
By MIKE PESOLI and FARNOUSH AMIRI
WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters marched across Washington,
D.C., on Saturday in one of the largest demonstrations against President
Donald Trump's federal takeover of policing in the nation’s capital.
Behind a bright red banner reading “END THE D.C. OCCUPATION” in English
and Spanish, protesters marched over two miles from Meridian Hill Park
to Freedom Plaza near the White House to rail against the fourth week of
National Guard troops and federal agents patrolling D.C.’s streets.
The “We Are All D.C.” protest — put together by local advocates of Home
Rule and the American Civil Liberties Union — was perhaps the most
organized demonstration yet against Trump's federal intervention in
Washington. The president justified the action last month as a way to
address crime and homelessness in the city, even though city officials
have noted that violent crime is lower than it was during Trump’s first
term in office.
Trump targeted D.C. after deploying the National Guard to Los Angeles
earlier this summer as the administration ramped up its immigration
enforcement efforts and attempted to quell protests. The White House
then turned to Washington, which presented a unique opportunity for
Trump to push his tough-on-crime agenda because of its subservient
status to the federal government.
The presence of armed military officers in the streets has put
Washington on edge and spurred weeks of demonstrations, particularly in
D.C. neighborhoods. Trump’s emergency declaration taking charge of D.C.
police is set to expire on Wednesday.
Mark Fitzpatrick, a former U.S. diplomat who has been a D.C. resident
for around a decade, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he's
worried about the “authoritarian nature” in which the administration is
treating D.C.
“Federal agents, national guards patrolling our streets, that’s really
an affront to the democracy of our city," he said, adding that it’s
worse for D.C. residents due to their lack of federal representation.
"We don’t have our own senators or members of the House of
Representatives, so we’re at the mercy of a dictator like this, a wanna-be
dictator.”
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Demonstrators protest against President Donald Trump's deployment of
federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington
during a march on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis
Magana)
Among the protesters Saturday were also former D.C. residents like
Tammy Price, who called the Trump administration's takeover “evil"
and “not for the people.”
Jun Lee, a printmaker artist living in Washington, showed up with a
“Free DC” sign that she made on a woodcut block. She said she came
to the protest because she was “saddened and heartbroken” about the
impact of the federal intervention on her city.
“This is my home, and I never, ever thought all the stuff that I
watched in a history documentary that I’m actually living in person,
and this is why this is important for everyone, this is our home, we
need to fight, we need to resist,” she said.
Also on Saturday, Trump repeated threats to add Chicago to the list
of other Democratic-led cities he wants to target for expanded
federal enforcement. His administration is set to step up
immigration enforcement in Chicago, similar to what took place in
Los Angeles, and deploy National Guard troops. Like the District of
Columbia, Chicago's recent crime data does not reflect the war zones
Trump has repeatedly compared it to.
Violent crime in Chicago dropped significantly in the first half of
the year, representing the steepest decline in over a decade,
according to city data. Shootings are down 37%, and homicides have
dropped by 32%, while total violent crime dropped by over 22%.
In response to Trump's threats, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a
Democrat, called the president a “wannabe dictator," who is
“threatening to go to war with an American city.”
“This is not a joke," Pritzker wrote on X. "This is not normal.”
___
Amiri reported from New York.
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