Washington, D.C. denizens are breathing a sigh of relief -- at least those not suffering Trump Derangement Syndrome. Just the other day, Veep Vance, Pete Hegseth, and White House powerhouse Stephen Miller went to Union Station. They thanked National Guardsmen for their part in stopping crime in Washington. A gaggle of usual suspects -- pampered, “progressive” whites -- showed up to protest. But they don’t count.

Crime is plummeting in our nation’s capitol. Let’s underscore that: Our nation’s capitol. The District of Columbia belongs to all of us citizens. We have a right to expect the district to be safe. If you take your kids to tour Washington, you shouldn’t fear walking around.

Troops and federal law enforcement officers are doing what Mayor Muriel Bowser and her DEI hire police chief Pamela Smith have failed to do: make streets unsafe for thugs. (Smith is only on the job thanks to a lawsuit filed by city attorney general Brian Schwalb challenging Trump’s emergency orders.)

Trump’s crackdown is snuffing out wildings, too, which have terrorized portions of D.C. nightly.

The Metro -- Washington’s once gleaming, efficient, and safe subway system -- is safer, too. Over the years, it’s become dirty and broken. Crime was commonplace. National Guardsmen are patrolling it. There are over half a million commuters who enter the district for work daily, many on Metro. They’re not having to look over their shoulders as much.

LifeZette posted a testimonial from a young black woman. She’s relieved now driving around nights. She can lower her windows not fearing “one of those young n*****s” coming up at a red light, gun in hand, looking to carjack her. Bet is, she’s not a Republican -- not in a city that’s three-quarters registered Democrat (highest in the U.S.).

What are Trump’s actions proving? Law and order works. That’s a “Duh” moment for most people, but not Democrats, who think coddling thugs and gangstas is the remedy for “systemic racism.”

Mayor Bowser is proud of commissioning “the first Black Lives Matter public street mural, which established a safe area for police and demonstrators using public art, inspiring dozens of others around the world.” Kumbaya -- unless a punk sticks a gun in your face and demands your wallet -- which happened to a colleague of mine years ago in broad daylight on the Mall behind the National Gallery of Art.

Other than BLM being a sham outfit, what in the world does a street mural accomplish practically? Nada, but that’s what Democrats do: they paper over gritty realities and declare their weak-ass policies and governance successes. Why? Because the narrative (AKA, lie) is king. In D.C., Bowser and other leaders lie, in part, because they’re incompetent. Some are corrupt. All are committed to an agenda aimed at increasing their grip on power. Public safety trails.

D.C. Democrats have fudged crime statistics to make it appear that crimes are lower. But the chair of the Washington Police Union Gregg Pembleton ain’t playing along. Said Pembleton to Fox News’ Martha MacCallum, August 20:

“Inevitably you will have a captain or a commander or sometimes a lieutenant show up on the scene and advise them to take a report for a lesser offense… One of the things that we see them do often is sometimes there will be a shooting or a stabbing and if the victim is uncooperative with the police which is not uncommon in some areas of the city, they will be directed to take an injured person to the hospital report which is not even a crime at all but an incident report, sometimes you will have a robbery reported as a theft and other times you will have burglaries reported as unlawful entry or thefts.”

Federal law enforcement is playing tough. Officers are going to areas of D.C. where crime germinates.

Posted Salena Zito at X, August 19:

Half of the arrests during Trump's DC police takeover have taken place in 2 of the most crime-hit wards of 7 & 8; wards home to a higher proportion of minorities residents -- for parents this is a godsend -- that anyone doesn’t understand this is bewildering

It’s really not bewildering. Those who don’t understand are afflicted with woke, a disease that attacks progressives.

A simple rule suffices: You hunt where the ducks are. If federal law enforcement is concentrating its efforts in Wards 7 and 8, then you know where the bulk of criminals are.

Geraldo Rivera posted at X, August 19:

Half of the 212 arrests made in DC since federal takeover of the Metro Police (48%) were made in crime-riddled, poor, majority Black neighborhoods. Like days of Stop & Frisk, crime drops when cops are pro-active. Folks have to decide if they want to trade freedom for security.

Sorry, Geraldo, it isn’t a tradeoff. Security allows freedom -- for the law-abiding. That isn't semantics. Law enforcement permits honest citizens to exercise their freedoms more fully. If you can’t walk to a store after dark, you’re less free. A cop stopping you doesn’t make you less free. It makes you protected.

For communities to work, law and order are bedrock. That goes for Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Philly, L.A. -- pick a city.

Corporate media refuses to say, but Wards 7 and 8 -- Anacostia and the Southeast -- are the poorest and most notoriously crime-infested areas. And they’re predominantly black. The hard reality is that blacks are committing most crimes. The victims? Other blacks -- though black on white, Asian, and Hispanic crime is definitely a problem across the city.

Reports the Heritage Foundation, May 2, 2025:

National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform figures show that 95.8% of homicide suspects in the District are male, and 96.8% of those are Black. Over 70% of suspects are between 18 and 34 years old. To look at the victim numbers, 89% are male, of whom 94.1% are Black. Over 62% of homicide victims are between 18 and 34 years old. [Italics added.]

Grim stats, and a tragedy for D.C.’s black community. The worst crime -- homicide -- is committed by young, black males murdering each other -- males who are typically fatherless, raised by welfare mommas (if “raised” is the term), many feral. Males who find identity and purpose in gangs. Short, brutish, and nasty describes their lives. They’re dangers to one another and folk districtwide.

Reports the Daily Caller, August 21:

Democratic California Rep. Robert Garcia suggested on Wednesday night that a Democrat-supported government shutdown should be “on the table” until President Donald Trump removes troops from Washington, D.C.

Garcia is making noise about shutting down Uncle Sam because Trump dares go on Democrat turf to stop bad guys. (Trump went on a ride-along with Metro police and National Guard on Thursday night.) It makes Garcia come off more like a gangbanger than a man elected to uphold the law and see to the welfare and safety of citizens.

Democrat opposition to the president’s D.C. crime crackdown isn’t entirely due to derangement. The Democrat Party is urban-centered. Trump going into Washington strikes at the heart of Democrats’ power. It exposes them as frauds and incompetents.

The president is demonstrating that crime needn’t be acquiesced to. He’s unspooling the spin that criminals are somehow victims, and that outreach, therapy, and art solve crime problems. Actually, intact families, father-led, and schools that teach, not warehouse, are real solutions. But that’s a deeper dive than Democrats care to do.

In the meantime, Trump is bringing relief to Washingtonians -- particularly black residents -- the old-fashioned way: more cops -- and in this instance, troops -- on the streets and in the Metro. They’ve been ordered to do their jobs. That’s bad news for punks. It’s great news for citizens.

J. Robert Smith can be found at X. His handle is @JRobertSmith1. At Gab, @JRobertSmith. He blogs occasionally at Flyover.

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