The National Guard, called in to deal with a “crime emergency” in DC declared by Donald Trump, have been spotted picking up trash.
Troops were seen donning yellow marigolds and orange high-visibility vests over their camouflage gear Tuesday as they picked up litter in Lafayette Park, just outside the White House.
According to officials, the military was deployed as part of a “beautification and restoration mission” in Lafayette Square, the National Mall, and the Tidal Basin.
At least 2,234 active guardsmen are on duty throughout the city; 929 of those are from the D.C. National Guard, while 1,305 come from Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia, say the Joint Task Force-DC Office.
Trump previously said he’d deployed the National Guard to grapple with “complete and total lawlessness” in the city, despite crime rates hitting a 30-year low earlier this year.
The initiative was “part of an overarching plan that includes an estimated 40 or more tasks being conducted across the District,” DC News Now reported.
Trump’s crackdown plans are not limited exclusively to Washington, as he reportedly plans to mobilize up to 1,700 National Guard troops across 19 states in the coming weeks to support his immigration and anti-crime crackdowns.
Since he pledged to tackle crime earlier this month, over 1,000 arrests have been made across the capital, many of whom were suspected illegal immigrants, according to the White House.
One magistrate judge said the way the federal government had handled the crackdown was reckless and “not legally acceptable.”
“We don’t just charge people criminally, throw them in the jail for a few weeks and then bring them in here and say, ‘Oops, my bad,'” Judge Zia Faruqui said from the bench Monday. “I have never ever in my life seen something close to the illegality of this search.”
Faruqui was speaking during a series of hearings for people who landed in federal courtrooms at the direction of the Justice Department on charges that, in most jurisdictions, would be handled by local authorities.
The crackdown has seen a mixed reaction from residents across the city.
In Southeast D.C., where Washington saw its first homicide in nearly two weeks early Tuesday, locals told NBC News that the presence was not overly well-received.
Ray, 77, told NBC that police show up “only when something like that happens,” adding that he had not seen much change since Trump’s policy went into effect, and that he feels no difference in his safety level.
Brian Williams, 56, who reported seeing National Guard, FBI, and local police forces in the neighborhood, said, “I really don’t have a problem with police presence.”
“It’s much-needed in certain neighborhoods of the district. Not all of them are needed, but some of them are needed,” but added, “the ones that are needed, you don’t see the presence in there.”
Whereas, one resident who lives in one of the city’s largest Latin neighborhoods said the crackdown had also seen a surge in immigration raids since Trump initiated the crackdown on August 7.
“People are walking around scared […] I’ve never seen the streets so empty,” one resident told the BBC.
On Monday, the Associated Press reported that some National Guard units patrolling the capital have started carrying firearms.
