Some DC residents, wary of Trump’s motives, uneasily back parts of the National Guard deployment

By GARY FIELDS Associated Press WASHINGTON AP The soldiers and airmen stood at the back of the black minivan arming themselves with black garbage bags and red-handled trash pickers and headed for the park around the recreation center For the Washington D C contingent of the National Guard deployed to the nation s capital it marked their th beautification project since the unit was called up in August as part of President Donald Trump s federal law enforcement intervention Their work has included cleaning graffiti in parks picking up trash and refurbishing a recreation center There are plans to help a school reading initiative in an often overlooked area of the city The hundreds of National Guard troops still deployed to the city at times armed have unnerved certain residents who see in them the manifestation of presidential overreach on law enforcement And while there is deep mistrust over the motives of the overall deployment others view the Guard in Washington especially its local contingent s focus on public improvement efforts with a measure of approval FILE With the White House in the distance National Guard troops patrol the Mall as part of President Donald Trump s order to impose federal law enforcement in the nation s capital in Washington Aug AP Photo J Scott Applewhite File I m glad for the help noted Sabir Abdul a resident who regularly cleans the trash and debris in the park around the Fort Stevens Recreation Center in Northwest D C They have lives but now they are here helping us The mixed feelings over the Guard deployment have forced local bureaucrats to strike a balance between opposing what they see as a flagrant violation of the city s already limited autonomy and the acknowledgment that the district could use the help that at least the D C National Guard contingent has been providing A lawsuit filed by D C s attorney general challenging the deployment part of a wave of legal action in multiple cities facing their own federal law enforcement interventions will be heard on Friday The Guard deployment in DC is among several around the country Hundreds of National Guard troops have been in Washington D C since Trump issued an crisis order in August which launched what he noted was a crime-fighting mission that also included the federal takeover of the local police department The order expired last month but the roughly National Guard troops from D C and eight states remain in the city with preponderance contingents saying they plan to withdraw by the end of November Related Articles Broadway musicians reach labor deal averting a strike The present day in History October Apple iPod debuts Wyoming Capitol bomb investigators focus on men seen in precaution video University of Virginia strikes deal to pause Trump administration investigations Vendors on NYC s Canal Street say they were harassed and inquired to show papers in immigration sweep The troops have become a fixture of the city patrolling metro stations and neighborhoods and supporting other federal law enforcement agencies in operations that have led to hundreds of arrests and sparked fear in multiple communities especially among immigrants Trump a Republican has praised the campaign as having reduced crime rates which were already falling D C Mayor Muriel Bowser a Democrat whose city budget and laws are determined by Congress has walked a fine line between appeasing Trump and pushing back on the deployment She has acknowledged that the campaign has helped push down crime while arguing that the out-of-state National Guard deployment has not been an efficient use of those guidance In a modern brief filed in the D C legal scenario Attorney General Brian Schwalb argued that the Guard units are operating as a federal military police force The document also indicated that there were plans for the D C Guard to potentially remain in the city at least through next summer For specific that isn t necessarily a bad thing Grappling with mixed feelings about the Guard In Ward which is in the historic but underserved area of the district east of the Anacostia River local officers have taken up an invitation from the D C Guard to help with locality improvement despite their overall opposition to the presence of armed National Guard troops in the city Advisory neighborhood commission member Joseph Johnson noted troops from the local Guard unit have been to his ward multiple times helping where we need help including cleaning around a school as well as several areas in the Anacostia neighborhood Society members have seen that these are people just like them They live here in our communities for the the greater part part Local bureaucrats have grappled over whether the help the local unit is offering can be separated from the Trump administration s increasing threats to use uniformed troops on the streets of American cities Chosen have zero tolerance concerned that supporting even the local Guard s beautification efforts can be seen as a tacit endorsement of Trump s use of federal troops in supporting law enforcement exercises Trump is testing the system to see how far he can really go Johnson announced The D C Guard contingent which is controlled by the president has been focused on quality of life issues in the city because multiple of the troops come from the communities they are now working in commented D C Guard interim commanding officer Brig Gen Leland Blanchard II Blanchard disclosed the deployment would go on until the president determines it s time for us to go do something different We absolutely want to continue to partner with our own city our own people here in the District of Columbia he described The Associated Press A city park embodies the tensions over the Guard In the diverse Shepherd Park neighborhood news that the Guard was arriving for cleaning efforts sparked a firestorm of opposition in district social media groups Neighborhood commissioner Paula Edwards was forced to explain that no local official had invited them In this image provided by Andy Koester National Guard soldiers and other law enforcement agencies work to get a cat top right out of a tree in Lincoln Park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington Tuesday Oct Andy Koester via AP We feel that their presence is frightening to several of our constituents Edwards revealed in an interview She mentioned the situation was complex because Guard members are following orders She also revealed the D C Guard members were distinct from other state contingents because they are aware of the nuances and character of the city She stated citizens attitudes in her area ranged from let the troops clean the park to certain who seek to shame them Edwards announced under different circumstances she would be glad to see the Guard there but only after this deployment ends Valencia Mohammed who leads a local tenants association stated she had reached out to the Guard to request help to clean up She entirely yearned the park clean including potentially dangerous items that could harm children Mohammed declared she usually cleaned the park along with other older residents She declared she held local functionaries opposed the Guard s cleanup efforts because they did not want to seem supporting any efforts by Trump even if it was good for the locality I just yearned our park beautified she disclosed which is something none of the commissioners have done