XPost: us.military.national-guard, alt.politics.trump, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   WASHINGTON (AP) — The main drag in Washington’s Columbia Heights   
   neighborhood is typically crammed with people peddling pupusas, fresh   
   fruit, souvenirs and clothing. On Tuesday, though, things felt different:   
   The white tents that bulge with food and merchandise were scarcer than   
   usual.   
      
   “Everything has stopped over the last week,” said Yassin Yahyaoui, who   
   sells jewelry and glass figurines. Most of his customers and fellow   
   vendors, he said, have “just disappeared” — particularly if they speak   
   Spanish.   
      
   The abnormally quiet street was one of many pieces of evidence showing how   
   President Donald Trump ‘s decision to flood the nation’s capital with   
   federal law enforcement and immigration agents has rippled through the   
   city. While troop deployments and foot patrols in downtown areas and   
   around the National Mall have gotten the most attention, life in   
   historically diverse neighborhoods like Columbia Heights is being reshaped   
   as well.   
      
   The White House has credited Trump’s crackdown with hundreds of arrests,   
   while local officials have criticized the aggressive intervention in the   
   city’s affairs.   
      
   The confrontation escalated on Tuesday as the top federal prosecutor in   
   D.C. opened an investigation into whether police officials have falsified   
   crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation who wasn’t   
   authorized to comment publicly. The probe could be used to bolster Trump’s   
   claims that the city is suffering from a “crime emergency” despite   
   statistics showing improvements. The mayor’s office and the police   
   department declined to comment.   
      
      
   National Guard members from West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and   
   Louisiana began arriving in Washington on Tuesday to assist in the   
   crackdown, according to Joint Task Force District of Columbia, the   
   military unit overseeing the D.C. Guard. Those troops from other states   
   will perform similar duties to D.C. Guard members already on the streets,   
   including protecting landmarks and crowd control, and will be staying at   
   military base housing and hotels, JTF-DC said.   
      
   Stops are visible across the city   
   Blocks away from where Yahyaoui had set up shop, U.S. Immigration and   
   Customs Enforcement and local police stopped a moped driver delivering   
   pizza. The agents drove unmarked cars and wore tactical vests; one covered   
   his face with a green balaclava. They questioned the driver and required   
   him to present documentation relating to his employment and legal   
   residency status. No arrest was made.   
      
   The White House said there have been 465 arrests since Aug. 7, when the   
   federal operation began, including 206 people who were in the country   
   illegally. The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement   
   and the president signed an executive order on Aug. 11 to put the police   
   department under federal control for 30 days; extending that would require   
   congressional approval.   
      
   Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump was   
   “unapologetically standing up for the safety of law-abiding American   
   citizens.”   
      
   Glorida Gomez, who has been working a fruit stand in Columbia Heights for   
   more than a decade, said business is worse now than during the COVID-19   
   pandemic. She said many vendors stopped coming because they were afraid of   
   interacting with federal agents.   
      
   Customers seem less willing to spend money too. Reina Sosa, another   
   vendor, said “they’re saving it in case something happens,” like getting   
   detained by immigration enforcement.   
      
   Ana Lemus, who also sells fruit, said “we need more humanity on the part   
   of the government.”   
      
   “Remember that these are people being affected,” she said. “The government   
   is supposed to protect members of the community, not attack or   
   discriminate against them.”   
      
   Bystanders have captured some arrests on video. On Saturday morning,   
   Christian Enrique Carias Torres was detained in another part of the city   
   during a scuffle with ICE agents, and the footage ricocheted around social   
   media. An FBI agent’s affidavit said Carias Torres kicked one of the   
   agents in the leg and another was injured when he fell during the struggle   
   and struck his head on the pavement. A stun gun was used to subdue Carias   
   Torres, who was charged Tuesday with resisting arrest.   
      
   An alphabet soup of federal agencies have been circulating in the city. In   
   the Petworth neighborhood, roughly 20 officers from the FBI, Homeland   
   Security, Park Police and U.S. Marshals descended on an apartment building   
   on Tuesday morning. A man extended his hands out a window while officers   
   cuffed him. Yanna Stelle, 19, who witnessed the incident, said she heard   
   the chatter from walkie talkies as officers moved through the hallways.   
      
   “That was too many police first thing in the morning — especially for them   
   to just be doing a warrant,” she said.   
      
   More National Guard troops from other states are slated to arrive   
   From his actions and remarks, Trump seems interested in ratcheting up the   
   pressure. His administration has asked Republican-led states to send more   
   National Guard troops — a total of 1,100 on top of the 800 from the D.C.-   
   based Guard. In addition to those states whose deployments started   
   arriving Tuesday, Ohio and Tennessee have also said they will send forces.   
      
   Resistance to that notion is starting to surface, both on the streets and   
   in Congress. On Tuesday, Democratic Rep. Sam Liccardo of California   
   introduced a bill that would require a report outlining the cost of any   
   National Guard deployment unrelated to a natural disaster, as well as its   
   legal basis. It would also require reporting on any Guard interactions   
   with civilians and other aspects of the operation.   
      
   Forty four Democrats have signed on in support, including Congresswoman   
   Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s non-voting delegate in the House of   
   Representatives. While the measure stands little chance of passing while   
   Republicans control the chamber, it’s a sign of a wider Democratic   
   response to Trump’s unprecedented moves in Washington.   
      
   “Are L.A. and D.C. a test run for a broader authoritarian takeover of   
   local communities?” Liccardo asked. He added that the country’s founders   
   were suspicious of “executive control of standing armies.”   
      
   Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that “Democrats continue   
   to side with criminals over law abiding Americans.”   
      
   What kind of assistance will be offered?   
   It’s unclear what kind of help the National Guard will be able to provide   
   when it comes to crime.   
      
   “The fact of the matter is that the National Guard are not law-enforcement   
   trained, and they’re not going into places where they would be engaged in   
      
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