As the Troops of the National Guard of Red States arrive, Trump repressions in the DC neighborhoods through the DC neighborhoods

Washington (AP) – The main race in the neighborhood Columbia Heights of Washington is generally full of people selling pupusas, fresh fruit, memories and clothing. On Tuesday, however, things felt different: the white tents that bulge with food and merchandise were scarce of the usual.

“Everything has stopped during the last week,” said Yassin Yahyaui, who sells jewelry and glass figures. Most of their clients and sellers, he said, “simply disappeared,” especially if they speak Spanish.

The abnormally quiet street was one of the many evidence that shows how the decision of President Donald Trump to flood the capital of the nation with the federal agents of the application of the law and the immigration agents has spread throughout the city. While troops and feet patrols in the areas of the center and around the National Shopping Center have received the greatest attention, life in historically diverse neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights is also remodeling.

The White House has accredited Trump’s repression with hundreds of arrests, while local officials have criticized aggressive intervention in city affairs.

The confrontation intensified on Tuesday when the main federal prosecutor in DC opened an investigation into whether police officers have falsified crime data, according to a person familiar with the situation that was not authorized to comment publicly. The investigation could be used to reinforce Trump’s claims that the city suffers from an “emergency of crime” despite the statistics that show improvements. The mayor’s office and the Police Department declined to comment.

The members of the West Virginia National Guard, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana began arriving in Washington on Tuesday to help in repression, according to the joint district of the Joint Task Force of Columbia, the military unit that supervises the DC guard. These troops of other states will perform duties similar to the members of DC Guard who are already in the streets, including the protection of the reference points and the control of the crowd, and will stay in homes and hotels of the military base, JTF-DC said.

The stops are visible throughout the city

It appears from where Yahyaui had established a store, the application of immigration and customs of the United States and the Local Police arrested a cyclomotor driver delivering Pizza. The agents were driving unmarked cars and wearing tactical vests; One covered his face with a green balaclava. They interrogated the driver and demanded that he submit documentation related to his employment and state of legal residence. No arrest was made.

The White House said there have been 465 arrests since August 7, when the federal operation began, including 206 people in the country illegally. The Trump administration has increased the immigration application and the President signed an executive order on August 11 to put the Police Department under federal control for 30 days; Extending that would require the approval of the Congress.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, said Trump was “defending the safety of American citizens respectful of the law.”

Glorida Gómez, who has been working on a standing at Columbia Heights for more than a decade, said the business is worse now than during the Covid-19 pandemic. She said many vendors stopped coming because they were afraid to interact with federal agents.

Customers also seem less willing to spend money. Reina Sosa, another supplier, said: “They are saving it in case something happens”, such as being arrested for the application of immigration.

Ana Lemus, who also sells fruit, said: “We need more humanity from the government.”

“Remember that these are affected people,” he said. “The government is supposed to protect members of the community, does not attack or discriminate against them.”

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The spectators have captured some video arrests. On Saturday morning, Christian Enrique Carias Torres was arrested in another part of the city during a fight with ice agents, and the images bounced on social networks. The affidavit of an FBI agent said that Carias Torres kicked one of the agents in his leg and another was injured when he fell during the fight and hit his head on the pavement. An electric gun was used to submit Carias Torres, who was accused on Tuesday of resisting arrest.

An alphabet soup of federal agencies has been circulating in the city. In the Petworth neighborhood, approximately 20 FBI officers, national security, parks police and the US sheriffs. UU. Descended in an apartments building on Tuesday morning. A man extended his hands through a window while the officers handcuffed him. Yanna Stelle, 19, who witnessed the incident, said she heard Walkie Talkies’s talk while the officers moved through the halls.

“That was too much police in the morning, especially so that they were only making a court order,” he said.

More troops from the National Guard of other states are scheduled to arrive

According to his actions and comments, Trump seems interested in increasing pressure. Its administration has asked the States led by Republicans to send more National Guard troops, a total of 1,100 in addition to the 800 of the DC -based guard. In addition to those states whose deployments began to arrive on Tuesday, Ohio and Tennessee have also said they will send forces.

The resistance to that notion is beginning to emerge, both in the streets and in Congress. On Tuesday, Democratic representative Sam Liccardo de California presented a bill that would require a report that describes the cost of any deployment of the National Guard not related to a natural disaster, as well as its legal basis. It would also require informing about any guardian interaction with civilians and other aspects of the operation.

Forty -four Democrats have signed in support, including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s non -vote delegate in the House of Representatives. While the measure has few possibilities to pass while Republicans control the camera, it is a signal of a broader democratic response to Trump’s unprecedented movements in Washington.

“Are the Y DC a test for a broader authoritarian acquisition of local communities?” Liccardo asked. He added that the founders of the country suspected “executive control of standing armies.”

Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, said that “Democrats continue on the side of criminals about Americans respectful of the law.”

What kind of assistance will be offered?

It is not clear what kind of help the National Guard can provide when it comes to crimes.

“The fact is that the National Guard is not trained in the application of the law, and they do not go to places where they would devote themselves to police activity,” said Jeff Asher, a crime analyst and consultant from Ah Datalytics. “So I don’t know if it’s just waiting for a lot.”

Trump declared in a publication on social networks that his initiative has transformed Washington from “the” most insecure city in the United States “to” perhaps the safer and better every hour! “

The number of crimes reported in DC fell by approximately 8% this week compared to the previous week, according to data from the Metropolitan Police. There was some variation within these data, with crimes such as robberies and car thefts decreasing, while robberies increased a bit and homicides remained stable.

Even so, a week is a small sample size, far from enough time for the data to show significant changes, said Asher. Referring to the period of one month that the DC Origin Rules Law allows the President to exercise control over the Police Department, he said: “I think 30 days is too less than a period to really say something.”

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News writers Michael Kunzelman, Alanna Durkin Richer, Jacquelyn Martin, Mike Pesoli and Ashraf Khalil contributed to this report.