Every evening in Lincoln Park, as light drains from the sky, residents gather with ladles and spoons to strike metal pans in a five-minute thunderous protest. The chant that follows is defiant: "We'll be back." This nightly ritual, known as a cacerolazo, has been echoing through Washington neighborhoods for nearly twelve months, a form of resistance stretching back to 19th-century France and Latin America.
The deployment that sparked these protests arrived last August when the Trump administration sent thousands of National Guard troops into the nation's capital under an executive order declaring a crime emergency. Soldiers in camouflage fatigues now patrol metro stations, parks, and city streets. That order was extended this week through January 2029.
"It's a city under siege," said Mike Licht, who has lived in his DC neighborhood for four decades. "I've seen changes, but this is the most disturbing. Armed troops aimlessly walking our streets, they've got nothing to do, they're bored."
For months, between 2,000 and 2,500 National Guard members have maintained a visible presence across the district. In July, that force nearly doubled to over 5,000 troops from more than a dozen states for what officials called a "summer surge" around the nation's 250th birthday celebration.
DC officials remain largely powerless to reverse the deployment. As the nation's capital, Washington lacks statehood. Mayor Muriel Bowser can only request the DC National Guard, not command it. She has no authority over troops from other states. The frustration is evident in the voices of local leadership.
"The national guard is not contributing to law enforcement," said Phil Mendelson, chair of the DC council. "The presence of armed soldiers on our streets is unnecessary, hurts potential visitors to the district, creates the wrong impression about safety."
The Trump administration counters that federal presence is reducing crime. The Justice Department reports that a broader federal task force called the DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, comprising more than 30 agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has made over 13,900 arrests, removed more than 1,500 illegal firearms, and found 23 missing children since August. Officials say this taskforce will continue for three more years.
But independent research tells a different story. Analysis from the Niskanen Center, a non-partisan think tank, found that the National Guard deployment has had minimal impact on violent crime despite costing taxpayers approximately $1.65 million daily. The report noted a 24 percent drop in property crime within the first six months, but no effect on violent crime, which was already declining.
The human cost has been steep. Two National Guard members came under fire during an ambush-style shooting at a DC Metro station last November. Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was killed, and Sergeant Andrew Wolfe was seriously injured, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The grassroots resistance movement has only intensified. Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC, a collective pushing back against Trump policies, sees something more troubling than failed statistics.
"There is an occupation of our community," Chatterjee said. "One of the most dangerous things they've done is normalize the presence of the military on our streets. It's not just immigrants under attack. It's everybody they think they can pick off, whether that's your trans neighbor or your immigrant neighbor."
Free DC has documented encounters between troops and residents, posting videos on social media. During the height of immigration enforcement last summer, volunteers helped redirect traffic away from National Guard checkpoints.
"It is very surreal and isolating," Chatterjee said, "because the rest of the country doesn't seem to understand that we are nearly a year into a military occupation."
Darius Baxter, chief engagement officer of GoodProjects DC, a non-profit serving youth and families, questions the deployment's effectiveness. He notes that troops congregate in commercial areas like around grocery stores, dispersing people for loitering, rather than positioning themselves in public housing communities where young people face actual gunfire risk.
"What we're seeing is the product of a population of young people that were undersocialized, undereducated and underinvested in," Baxter said. "Those young people become teenagers, teenagers become adults, adults have kids, and that cycle repeats again and again."
His organization takes a different approach, deploying staff to specific high-crime wards to identify individuals at risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of violence and attempt intervention.
Back in Northeast Washington, beside a statue of Abraham Lincoln, the nightly symphony continues. Mike Licht said he and his neighbors will maintain their five-minute protest with pot and pan until the troops depart.
"It's five minutes of the first amendment," he said.
Author James Rodriguez: "A year in, DC residents have moved past shock to organized, nightly defiance, and independent research confirms what they already know: the troops aren't making the city safer."
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