From Autonomy to Federal Oversight, D.C. Residents Fight Back

Image Credit: Tom Fisk

The past week has been a whirlwind for D.C. residents.

On Aug. 11, President Trump attempted to federalize the city by overturning a piece of legislation called the Home Rule Act of 1973, originally passed into law by Ronald Reagan. 

This law has allowed D.C. to operate under its own mayoral leadership and local council since its passing, and was a necessary step towards autonomy for D.C. Trump’s attempt at overturning this legislation has involved putting the Metropolitan Police Department under the control of the federal government rather than the city, and deploying the National Guard, ICE, and the FBI.

The Metropolitan Police Department was put back under local control after D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued the Trump administration. This has allowed Chief of Police Pamela Smith to maintain control of the Metropolitan Police Department and continue to take orders from Mayor Muriel Bowser. However, the wave of impact that the last week has had on the district has reached much farther.

Trump cited rampant crime as his reason for these actions. But, as a result of the militarization that has occurred in D.C. over the past week, encampments of unhoused people in D.C. have been swept, ICE has raided neighborhoods, and many people no longer feel safe in the city that they call home. Trump has been met with protests from local residents and residents of neighboring areas in Virginia and Maryland.

Local and national organizers from groups such as F.L.A.R.E. (For Liberation and Resistance Everywhere), 50501, Refuse Fascism, and FreeDC Project took to the streets this weekend. 

On Saturday, Aug. 16, hundreds of people gathered in the famous DuPont Circle before marching to the White House.

“We’ve ruled ourselves for long enough,” one protestor, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy concerns, stated.

D.C. Home Rule has been monumental for all of D.C., but especially for Black and Brown communities, who have historically made up a majority of the populace until recent years, as gentrification takes its toll.

Morgan Taylor, a Medic helper and organizer with Refuse Fascism, is scared. She’s felt the impact of the Trump administration since she lost her job in January, when foreign aid was cut.

“I’m scared that I’m going to get picked up off the street and disappear. I’m scared that my children will not know where I am,” Taylor said.

As a mother of two sons, one of whom is an adult, Taylor is also scared that her children  will be targeted.

“I’m scared to death that he will come down here minding his own business, and these {assholes} will start attacking him for nothing,” Taylor said.

However, the courage that she says has outweighed the fear she feels has compelled her to take to the streets alongside her fellow organizers.

“My grandfather was a Tuskegee Airman. My great-grandfather registered to vote in 1867 when he was freed from being enslaved. I cannot sit back on the sidelines and watch everything we’ve fought for be stripped away.” 

Dave Otto, a local photographer, says he’s not shocked that Trump has taken this kind of action. Otto moved to D.C. from Guantanamo Bay. He is a veteran who has worked for the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo as a program manager, as well as for the Justice Department and the Department of Human Services.

“As a federal worker, the writing was on the wall,” Otto said.

He’s solutions-oriented, and trying to focus on what can be done to move forward through this hardship in D.C.

“There is no normal to get back to,” he said, “The question is where we want to go, and what we’re willing to do to get there.”

Rebecca J., a member of the FreeDC project, says that she wants the city to come together to protect its most marginalized communities. Unhoused people, Black and Brown residents, immigrants, trans people and anyone who is at disproportionate risk for harm.

Taylor, in a similar fashion, says community is more important than ever to ensure this kind of protection.

“Community means holding people accountable when they’re quiet. When you see something wrong happening, blow your whistle. Taking care of our unhoused community members,” Taylor said.

As the air in D.C. continues to heat up, it remains to be seen how these residents will continue to forge community and maintain their autonomy.