AFT’s Weingarten Responds to Trump’s D.C. Crackdown

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after President Trump federalized Washington, D.C., police and deployed the National Guard in D.C.:

“The AFT has thousands of educators and employees who live and work in D.C. and the surrounding counties. We recently brought thousands of people here for a conference. This is our city. Obviously, we want it to be safe–just as we did on Jan. 6, 2021, when there was an actual riot on the streets. How ironic that the president was reluctant to deploy the National Guard then when asked by others to do so.

“The president’s move to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia and deploy the National Guard, with total violent crime at a 30-year low, is a gross overreach, disconnected from actual conditions on the ground. It is also at odds with his administration’s decision to stop funding violence prevention programs in Washington, D.C.

“So, we have to ask:

“Will the president’s heavy-handed show of force make the average D.C. resident feel safer?

“Will it create jobs for working people and bring patrons back to downtown businesses?

“Will it provide young people a pathway to jobs, skills or other activities that keep them off the streets?

“The answer to those questions is ‘no.’

“That’s why this move is yet another crass spectacle from a president who cares more about targeting, intimidating and playing king than the safety of D.C. and its residents.”