IdeaLog

Sleepwalking into a police state

Posted on August 20, 2025

First Los Angeles and now Washington, DC. Soon, Trump will declare that crime in your city is an “emergency” and send troops. Are we just going to sleepwalk into a police state?

This is what Trump said about Washington, DC:

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people…. Caravans of mass youth rampage through city streets at all times of the day. They’re on ATVs, motorbikes, they travel pretty well….. Today, we’re formally declaring a public safety emergency. This is an emergency. This is a tragic emergency and it’s embarrassing for me to be up here.”

Only the last eight words are true. DC’s violent crime rate was lower in 2024 than any time in the past 30+ years.** And the city’s violent crime rate is substantially lower in 2025 than in 2024. Those of us who live in DC can tell you: there are no roving gangs, mobs, maniacs, or mass youth rampages, and no emergency. This is all a big lie, which is a well-known tactic, literally from the fascist handbook.

Instead, we now have hordes of federal police and national guardsmen roaming our streets, not knowing what they are doing. They don’t know the city; they don’t know the applicable laws. It is just performative. It’s a show designed to terrorize people of color and “own the libs.”

This is a disgrace to America, a debasement of American ideals. It’s not like anything in American history. Our foreign allies are appalled, and our enemies, like Putin and Xi, are laughing at us. Worse, it is a trial run. Soon, your cities and towns will be targeted for militarization. It’s a show of power and there is absolutely no reason to believe that Trump will stop.

So, has there been any progressive/Democratic message? Almost everyone is just too scared to speak the truth. They’re thinking, “oh no, the public will never believe that crime has gone down!” Instead, they keep silent and let Trump and MAGA own the crime issue. Or worse, they try to out tough-on-crime the right wing. Does any sane person think that’s going to work?

Here is what our side should say:

First, point out that Trump is lying. Quote whatever part of Trump’s lies you prefer and refute them with the truth about actual crime rates. Further, point out that DC’s violent crime rate is lower than each of these red state cities: Birmingham, AL; Little Rock, AR; Kansas City, KS; Kansas City, MO; Springfield, MO; St. Louis, MO; Shreveport, LA; Cleveland, OH; Dayton, OH; Memphis, TN; Nashville, TN; Houston, TX. Why isn’t Trump militarizing them? Because Trump is simply lying about his motives.

Second, provide one or more reasons why Trump is lying. You can say it’s to seize power like a tin-pot dictator, or it’s to stoke racism for his MAGA base, or it’s to distract the media from Trump’s decade-long close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and the special favors he’s recently given Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. They are all true.

Third, say that Trump and MAGA may talk tough and put on a show, but they and their tactics have never reduced crime. The truth is, only our side pushes the kind of measures that have any chance of keeping Americans safe from crime. We’re here to serve Americans, not treat them like the victims of a con game.

Might as well start practicing your crime messaging now because Trump is going to attack you next. Like DC, your crime rates are almost certainly down because nationwide crime rates are historically low. Modern crime statistics are accessible back to 1960. Crime rates for both violent crime (murder, rape robbery and assault) and property crime (burglary, theft, auto theft and arson) increased about 400 percent from the early 1960s until the early 1990s. Since then, crime rates have plummeted. Now, nationwide rates of violent crime are what they were in the late 1960s and nationwide rates of property crime are as low as the early 60s.

The truth is on our side. Fight back!

**Due to lack of imagination or sheer laziness, neither the city nor the media have looked at DC crime rates that are more than 30 years old. In fact, violent crime has not been this low in 50-60 years. You would never know it from the news coverage, but crime in DC is historically low citywide and people in tourist areas of the city are safer there than they are in their own cities and towns.