Howard University students on Tuesday protested President Donald Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, even as many acknowledged it had a positive impact on crime.
About 100 students gathered on campus chanting “Free D.C.” and “Free Howard” for an hour despite admitting the city was experiencing less crime under the deployment, according to WTOP News. Trump deployed the National Guard into D.C. on August 11 to reestablish “law and order” after declaring a “public safety emergency.”
Yet even after admitting to the lower crime rate, one student nevertheless insisted the presence of the National Guard made him feel less safe.
“You gotta admit, there’s some ups, but there’s always a lot of downs that come with that stuff,” Howard freshman Landon Sirls told WTOP. “And I feel like, for the most part, I don’t know how safe I feel walking around certain streets on the campus with certain people patrolling it all the time.”Another student, senior Kai’lin Merriweather, told WTOP she was disappointed in the low turnout of the protest.
“There really needs to be more unity in the school, because I feel the administration will ignore this,” Merriweather said. “They only care about their image, and if it’s not making a very big impact, they’re not going to pay attention to it.”
Merriweather added that the increased officer presence made her and her friends less likely to go out, according to WTOP.
“It’s just causing more harm to good,” she said. “It’s just clearly a tactic to show power over the people here and stuff like that. Like, literally, it’s not contributing to anything besides that.”
“America is not living up to its original ideal of freedom and freedom of speech, freedom of expression, et cetera,” another Howard freshman, Funmilayo Coates, insisted. “I don’t see how a military occupation will make anyone feel safe.”
Several students were permitted to leave class to attend the protest, WTOP reported.
Crime in D.C. — especially violent crime — has decreased significantly since Trump’s federal takeover. Compared to 2023, overall crime has been reduced by 33%, and violent crime has reduced by 71%.
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