WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Guard began carrying weapons Sunday in the US capital Washington, where President Donald Trump has deployed more than 2,200 troops as part of a crackdown on crime, the military said.
"Starting the late evening of August 24, 2025, JTF-DC service members began carrying their service-issued weapon," the Joint Task Force-DC — to which the National Guard troops are assigned — said in a statement., This news data comes from:http://moswcrcm.gangzhifhm.com
They are only authorized to use force "as a last resort and solely in response to an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm," the statement said.
A US defense official had said on Friday that troops deployed in Washington would "soon" be carrying weapons, which were previously available if needed but kept in the armory.
The National Guard troops come from overwhelmingly Democratic Washington as well as the Republican-led states of West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
Republican politicians — led by Trump — have claimed that the US capital is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged.
National Guard troops begin carrying weapons in US capital
Data from Washington police, however, showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off a post-pandemic surge.
But Trump has accused Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser of "giving false and highly inaccurate crime figures," threatening "bad things" including a total federal takeover of the city if she does not stop doing so.
In addition to the deployment of the National Guard, federal law enforcement personnel — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have also recently surged their presence on Washington's streets, drawing protests from residents.
- Made in China? The remarkable tale of Venice's iconic winged lion
- House panel defers 2026 DPWH budget until agency submit changes
- 175th birth anniversary of Marcelo H. Del Pilar commemorated in Manila
- Philippine forces deliver supplies and personnel to disputed South China Sea shoal despite tensions
- PH to see ‘blood moon’ Sept. 7-8
- WorldSkills Asean Manila begins
- China is showing off its weaponry in a tightly controlled military parade
- Heavy rain falls in parts of Southeast Asia after tropical storm blows into Vietnam Heavy rain falls in parts of Southeast Asia after tropical storm blows into Vietnam
- Israel army urges Gaza City residents to leave
- Aftershocks rumble quake-hit Afghanistan as death toll tops 1,400
