One Year into D.C.’s Federal Occupation, Advancement Project Demands End to Collaboration with Federal Law Enforcement
August 10, 2026
Washington, DC — One year after the Trump Administration deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., Black communities have faced the greatest impact, watching their tax dollars fund a militarized occupation instead of their own safety net. On this one-year mark, Justice Project Program Director Erin Cloud, issued the following statement:
“One year ago, President Trump manufactured a crisis to seize control of Washington D.C.’s police force. One year and over 86,000 documented police stops later, the truth remains undeniable: this was never about safety. It was about control and the criminalization of Black and brown communities. Tens of thousands of people have been detained and harassed through this federalized policing scheme that has targeted Black residents, Black youth and Black organizers who dared to speak out. Youth curfews continue to criminalize Black children simply for existing in public spaces after dark.
We refuse to normalize this occupation or let it silently extend further into Black communities. What President Trump claimed was an “emergency” in D.C. has become the blueprint for federal overreach in many Black-led cities, a playbook built on lies about crime, fueled by fearmongering of Black communities. This is not how a government should treat the communities it represents.
D.C. must end its collaboration with federal law enforcement and the National Guard, canceling cooperation agreements with federal agencies and contracts with surveillance tech companies. Rather than funding National Guard troops, who are paid up to $11,000 a month, plus housing and food stipends, to patrol D.C. streets, we support our D.C. partners demanding that taxpayer money fund housing, food security, and the services our communities actually need to be safe.
D.C. residents deserve real safety, independence, and a government that protects their right to self-determination. D.C. deserves care, not police.”
For more examples of what real community safety looks like in Washington, D.C., the Court should look not to systems of punishment and surveillance, but to the organizers and community-rooted institutions already building protection, dignity, and care from the ground up—including our partners Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, Free DC, BLM DC, and Black Swan Academy.
###
Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change. Visit www.advancementproject.org to learn more.
