I was disheartened to read that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stittis sending members of the Oklahoma National Guard to Washington, D.C. , to participate in the federal surge in the nation’s capital.
What’s being sold as a public safety initiative is actually a political stunt that trades real solutions for optics and short-term headlines.
This so-called “mission” reinforces the harmful narrative that D.C. is inherently unsafe, and that its residents, many of whom are Black and brown, pose a threat. Framing the District as a “federal enclave” in need of protection from its own people undermines local governance and only serves to fuel fear and distrust.
The decision to send troops without any coordination with local leaders mirrors the same top-down tactics we’ve seen from President Donald Trump’s administration time and again. It’s performative, punitive, and disconnected from the actual data.
Why is Oklahoma’s National Guard being deployed to a city that is not in crisis?
One of the primary justifications for the surge was a reported uptick in carjackings. What the data show is that carjackings have been falling from their historic peak in mid-year 2023, and even declined the month before the federal surge in August. Like other cities, D.C. has seen a significant decline in violent crime since the summer of 2023.
Prior to the surge of federal law enforcement policing D.C.’s streets, homicides, robberies, and carjackings have all dropped, mirroring national trends. The Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan organization of public safety experts, reported “a large and unmistakable drop in reported violence” across the District. These gains were not the result of federal deployments and one-off interventions, but of sustained investments in community-based solutions: violence interruption, restorative justice programs, reentry support, and trauma-informed care.
Recent federal actions, including federal cuts to those exact violence prevention programs that work to reduce crime, have created further instability across D.C.’s public safety system.
While a spokesperson for the Governor said the increased deployment of the National Guard was designed to, “protect the federal enclave of D.C.”, even local law enforcement have warned that prolonged federal occupation could strain police-community relations and divert resources away from serious crime.
At its core, this federal surge is about power. It’s about a presidential administration trying to undermine the will of D.C. residents through force, nearly 700,000 of whom pay federal and city taxes, serve in the military, and vote in elections, but still have no full representation in Congress. Rather than respond to the needs of the city, federal actors are using D.C. as a stage to score political points and impose policies that override the will of District voters.
Do Oklahoma state officials really want to be complicit in a plan that undermines democratic norms, targets immigrants and Black communities, and disrespects local governance principles? Shouldn’t their focus be on meeting the needs and priorities of Oklahoma residents?
When the Oklahoma National Guard is deployed, it should be for genuine emergencies, not manufactured crises. Sustained safety in the District doesn’t come from a show of force, but from investments that support people and address the root causes of crime.
Residents of Oklahoma deserve to know what their service members are contributing to because the safety of District communities and residents is not it.
They deserve transparency and accountability from local officials who are sending the National Guard to D.C. to score political points under the illusion of supporting public safety.
- Clinique Chapman is the chief executive officer of DC Justice Lab, a team of law and policy experts researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale changes to the District of Columbia’s criminal legal system.
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