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Troops do not belong on our streets.  The ACLU, Common Defense, and the Chamberlain Network join these veterans on Capitol Hill, where they’re urging all our elected representatives to stop the Trump administration’s misuse of the military.  We know that putting troops in our communities for political purposes breaks public trust and is disrespectful to their service.

This mobilization on Capitol Hill is a seminal moment for those pushing back on the Trump administration’s abuses of power.  This year marks the 250th birthday of the Army, Marines, and Navy.  We can’t let our armed forces, which were created to defend our liberties, devolve into an arm of someone’s political pursuits.  But that’s what we have seen take place this year.  President Donald Trump and his administration have sent troops into our communities and enacted policies that roll back civil rights progress.

Already we’ve seen President Trump federalize National Guard troops and other service members to cities under the guise of keeping communities safe.  Often, this is happening without the consent of state governors and officials.

Military Troops Do Not Belong on Our Streets

As commander in chief, President Trump also took an oath to protect the Constitution.  In the United States, the federal military should not be used for domestic law enforcement.  That is a fundamental principle embodied in the Posse Comitatus Act, one that helps separate our democracy from dictatorships abroad.  History shows what happens when we cross that line.  The tragedy at Ohio’s Kent State University in 1970 when National Guard troops shot at student demonstrators, proves that putting military troops in our communities can result in disastrous consequences.  National Guard troops should be reserved for genuine emergencies, not deployed to our cities to serve the president’s political whims.  Kent State continues to serve as a reminder of what happens when we comingle military troops and policing of civilians.

President Trump’s ongoing use of militarized force is not about safety; it’s about asserting power.  Over the summer, his administration sent troops and armed federal agents into Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.  His administration continues to threaten to send them to Chicago and Portland despite objections from city and state leaders.  Military troops—and armed federal agents in masks who appropriate military uniforms—do not make our communities safer or safeguard our rights.  These deployments erode the public’s trust in a non-partisan military when our neighbors struggle to understand why troops are patrolling their communities, or to distinguish between National Guard and federal agents.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents often wear military-style uniforms or gear, creating confusion that further erodes public trust.  True safety comes from strong and supported communities, not from local militarization.  That’s why so many veterans, active-duty service members, and military families have joined the ACLU and others in condemning these dangerous and escalatory actions.

One of the first to arrive after the shootings was Gary Goodweather, a Democratic candidate for next year’s mayoral election, who had been having lunch on Washington’s 14th Street when he learned of the shooting.  A former U.S. army captain who served in the National Guard, Goodweather professed himself unsurprised, suggesting that Trump’s deployment of federal forces on the streets of Washington was an invitation to violence.

“If I’m completely honest, we’ve been expecting this.  It hurts me to the core,” he said.  “We knew that Trump was going to do this to the city.  He tried to do it in his first administration.  He knew what he was doing when he activated the National Guard.  The National Guard should not have been in our city—period—for law enforcement.”

Asked if the Trump administration bore moral responsibility for the shooting by deploying the guards, Goodweather paused for several seconds before answering: “Yes.  Look around us.  These are citizens, they’re residents, they’re human beings.  Activating the United States military against people within our own country, within Washington, D.C., is the wrong message.”  Goodweather said he feared the administration would respond by increasing the troop deployments, which he said would “inflame” the mood on the streets.

“Please, do not let that occur,” he said.  “Having a further enforced National Guard military presence is the opposite of what we need to do right now.”  Defense secretary Pete Hegseth has since ordered 500 additional National Guard troops to the city at Trump’s request.

The Politicization of the Military Must Stop

Time and again, we’ve seen how, when the military crosses the line to civilian law enforcement, the fabric of our democracy decays.  The Trump administration’s dangerous misuse of the military does not begin or end with troops deployed to our cities.  It extends to the politicization of the military itself.

In September, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth summoned hundreds of senior military leaders to Quantico and delivered remarks attacking the principles of equity and accountability.  President Trump followed with a disturbing address urging troops to use U.S. cities as “training grounds” to fight the “enemy within.”  These are not the words of leaders strengthening national defense; this is a weaponization of the military that threatens our Constitution.

People are worried about possible political motivations behind the shootings, but many have tried to avoid apportioning blame.  However, many residents were angry about what he called “the occupation” of the capital by federal troops.  Resentment was aimed not at the National Guard but to other federal agents, who had been involved in arrests.  The deployment of National Guard troops has been ongoing for many months, and we are hearing that it may go on until next year because of the supposed crime emergency, which many don’t buy for a second.  The crime in D.C. is nothing like it once was.