by President Trump invoked images of domestic terrorists to support his argument that crime in the nation’s capital was out of control while arguing for the militarization of Washington’s streets.
During a press conference last week, Mr. Trump exclaimed, “Look at these people here,” as he flipped through a White House handout that had five mug photographs of people of race.
He declared that they would never be a benefit to society. I don’t give a damn. I am aware that we all want to say, “Oh, they will be rehabilitated.” They will not be rehabilitated.
The president’s biased perception of criminality and redemption was shown by the declaration. He believes that an Israeli settler accused of extremist violence, two police officers implicated in the cover-up of the death of a Black man, a triple murderer, and Capitol rioters all deserve another opportunity.
However, those who are charged with crimes in Washington are beyond redemption.
Mr. Trump, who is a convicted felon, has shown special tolerance toward criminals that he appears to sympathize with, such as those who are wealthy or white, who he feels have been unfairly prosecuted, or who rioted on January 6, 2021, in his honor.
The White House justifies the president’s actions by citing his first-term criminal justice record, which included passing rehabilitation-focused prison reform legislation and utilizing his clemency powers to free several Black criminals who had received disproportionate sentences for nonviolent offenses.
However, during his second administration, Mr. Trump has exploited racial tensions to support his long-held belief that cities are dangerously violent, filthy, and threatened by criminals. Mr. Trump used derogatory language to describe other cities with Black, Democratic mayors in addition to the District of Columbia.
He claimed that Chicago was awful. Oakland and Baltimore have vanished completely.
Carl W. Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, stated that his actions are essentially selective crime. The persistent racialization of crime is largely to blame for this. The fact that all of the communities he is considering attacking have either Black mayors or immigrants is no coincidence. It’s just so clear.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields stated that the president and his administration were addressing a reality in the Black community rather than single-handedly exposing criminals, including those listed in the handout.
Despite Mr. Trump’s inflated and false claims that the city is lawless, Washington does have a crime problem.
According to Mr. Fields, Black people are the ones who are most affected by inner-city crime, and regrettably, Black people are also the ones who are committing the crimes. Additionally, he contended that it was unjust to compare the treatment of Jan. 6 criminals to that of others.
He claimed that January 6th was a significant day in American history. For these people, the criminality that plagues cities like D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans occurs on a daily basis. And the fact that these people feel they can’t go to the neighborhood 7-11 because they’re afraid of being attacked, killed, or carjacked is a daily insult to their sensibilities.
Since assuming office, Mr. Trump has demonstrated a tendency to defer to others, particularly those who share his views, while describing people of color in particular as worthy of the worst penalties.
Mr. Trump pardoned thousands of his fans on his first day in office after they were arrested and charged with participating in a violent mob at the Capitol, where they attacked police, broke windows, looted offices, and threatened to hang his vice president. According to an NPR investigation, some had previous criminal records for crimes like rape, homicide, and possession of child sexual abuse materials. The president stated that they had already been incarcerated for a considerable amount of time. They have ruined these people.
He pardoned Washington police officers two days later who had been found guilty of crimes relating to a vehicle chase that killed a young Black man in 2020 and which they then attempted to conceal. Mr. Trump made incorrect claims that the man was an illegal immigrant and said that the officers were the victims in the case. The two officers were arrested and imprisoned for pursuing a criminal, he claimed, so I suppose something went wrong after that.
Additionally, Mr. Trump lifted sanctions against a violent Israeli settler, claiming that the actions were extremist, unlawful, inflationary, and extremely unpopular. The Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land showcased the work of a well-known Palestinian activist, whom the settler is now suspected of killing.
Even as the president intensified his drive to deport immigrants in the name of public safety, the administration arranged the release of a man convicted of killing three people from a Venezuelan prison.
Additionally, Mr. Trump said that a former Virginia sheriff who had been convicted of selling deputy jobs in his department was a victim of the overzealous Biden Department of Justice and didn’t deserve to be imprisoned for a day after he pardoned the former sheriff, who was a prominent supporter of his. The president declared that he would instead lead a happy and fruitful life.
Mr. Trump has been bringing up race in relation to crime for years.
In 1989, following the arrest and wrongful conviction of five Black and Latino teens for the rape of a white lady, Mr. Trump famously placed newspaper ads, including one in The New York Times, advocating for the adoption of the death penalty in New York State. Mr. Trump never expressed regret or admitted the men’s innocence, even after they were exonerated. They were known as the Central Park Five.
Critics claim that Mr. Trump’s motivation to act was sparked by the assault on a white 19-year-old employee of the Department of Government Efficiency this month, which further solidified the idea that he appears to only care about certain victims.
Mr. Fields pointed out that the president had spoken out against white offenders and had also included Black victims during the announcement. Although he denounced the attack on social media and made numerous public references to it, he denied that the DOGE employee was the catalyst for Mr. Trump’s move. According to Mr. Fields, the president was inspired to take action after seeing pictures of murdered Black adolescents from Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington and a former Fox News host.
According to Mr. Fields, the president witnessed this firsthand. He doesn’t want to witness any assaults or fatalities on our streets.
However, the administration hasn’t treated victims fairly either.
In order to resolve a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot and killed by police on January 6 while attempting to break through a barricaded door by the House chamber, the Justice Department paid close to $5 million. The Black cop who was determined to have been justified in the shooting was referred to as a thug by Mr. Trump.
Two months later, the agency requested that a federal judge impose a one-day jail sentence on a white police officer found guilty of killing Breonna Taylor in 2020. Following a poorly planned police raid on her apartment, Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black emergency room technician, was shot in her own home.
“The president’s actions in Washington reflected a common dynamic in tough-on-crime tactics that often target Black and brown communities,” said Inimai Chettiar, a longtime criminal justice advocate who backed Mr. Trump’s jail reform program.
“I believe that politicians, particularly white politicians, tend to fall into this pattern,” she remarked. They believe that certain people are worthy while others are not.
However, she claimed it was overreaching to deploy the National Guard to the streets of Washington. She claimed that the Trump administration is attempting to create a domestic enemy among Brown and Black people.
Reports were submitted by Zolan Kanno-Youngs.
