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Speaker 2: This is It could Happen Here. I'm Garrison Davis. One

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Speaker 2: place that it is happening right now is Washington, d C.

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Speaker 2: Where Trump has undergone a quasi military takeover of the city.

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Speaker 2: And to discuss this, I'm joined by Bridget Todd, DC

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Speaker 2: resident here.

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Speaker 3: So I was on the podcast a few months ago

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Speaker 3: talking about Trump's history of threats to DC and that

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Speaker 3: has really all come to a head. So I'm really

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Speaker 3: happy to be sitting down with you to talk about it.

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Speaker 3: It has been a rough few days here in d C.

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Speaker 3: I mean, if I am coming off like I sound

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Speaker 3: tired or weird or stressed, it's because I do feel

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Speaker 3: those things. It's been a lot of feelings.

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Speaker 4: Most of it.

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Speaker 3: I just hate watching Donald Trump get up in front

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Speaker 3: of America and straight lie about my city and my home.

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Speaker 3: A place like DC that you know, it's where I'm from,

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Speaker 3: it's where it's met most of my life. It's it's

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Speaker 3: pretty difficult to have the national conversation be about what

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Speaker 3: a bombed out shithole my home is. So I sort

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Speaker 3: of wanted to get into the basics of what's going

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Speaker 3: on and what I think at all means for everyone,

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Speaker 3: not just people in DC. So by now you've probably

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Speaker 3: seen that. On Monday, the Trump administration announced that they

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Speaker 3: were federalizing DC's police force, the Metropolitan Police.

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Speaker 4: Department, or MPD.

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Speaker 3: They also announced that they'd be sending National Guard to DC.

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Speaker 3: Because DC is not a state, Trump actually and any

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Speaker 3: president would actually have authority over DC's National Guard. So,

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Speaker 3: despite not being a state, DC does have a national Guard.

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Speaker 3: The authority over it is just in the hands of

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Speaker 3: the president, so with a stroke of a pen, he

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Speaker 3: can just deploy DC's National Guard whenever he wants. He's

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Speaker 3: also sending in national guard from other states to do this.

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Speaker 3: Trump evoked what's called Section seven forty of DC's Home

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Speaker 3: Rule Act, which allows for the president to take over

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Speaker 3: MPD for forty eight hours with possible extensions up to

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Speaker 3: thirty days in times of emergencies. I'm kind of putting

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Speaker 3: emergency in quotes because the emergency that he is saying

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Speaker 3: is crime. But we'll get into why that doesn't really

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Speaker 3: hold water in a moment. So I really can't overstate, like,

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Speaker 3: how on precedented this is? No president has ever done

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Speaker 3: this before?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I what relates to your pain here of

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Speaker 2: your city suddenly being thrust into national spotlight? As Trump

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Speaker 2: sends in, you know, military style police and I guess

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Speaker 2: a version, although with very different methods justifications, happened to

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Speaker 2: my density Portland, Oregon in twenty twenty, which I'm sure

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Speaker 2: most people listening are familiar with. It's very similar reporting

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Speaker 2: on how it's burned to the ground. It is only

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Speaker 2: a husk remains. There's just one massive bonfire where downtown

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Speaker 2: used to be, and of course it's fine, but the

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Speaker 2: actual presence of you know, groups like PORTAC actually create

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Speaker 2: situations where there's massive amounts of violence being done by

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Speaker 2: men in army fatigues. What's in DC is is I

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Speaker 2: think notably different and as like a semi extension of

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Speaker 2: how he was testing out this type of thing in

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Speaker 2: LA earlier this year, but with less of like an

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Speaker 2: endpoint like LA's stuff was more about trying to push

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Speaker 2: forward these deportations and renditions as quickly as possible. So

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Speaker 2: he's just like taking control of the whole city, like indefinitely,

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Speaker 2: it seems now for DC.

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Speaker 3: In some ways, yes, to be clear, because DC is

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Speaker 3: not a state, it is unique from any other place

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Speaker 3: in the country, and that the President kind of does

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Speaker 3: have more authority over DC than he would in other places.

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Speaker 3: And so yeah, he definitely this is definitely a federalization

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Speaker 3: of our police department. In terms of it being a

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Speaker 3: larger takeover of DC, We're not there yet. This is

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Speaker 3: something that he has definitely threatened. This is something that

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Speaker 3: he loves to talk about. That would include the president

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Speaker 3: taking over pretty much every aspect of life in DC,

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Speaker 3: so our public schools, our roads, our social services, all

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Speaker 3: of that provoking home rule, that's what that would be.

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Speaker 3: He definitely, that is definitely a threat. We should all

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Speaker 3: be very aware of that. And like it really makes

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Speaker 3: clear why DC needs full statehood yesterday, right, Like this

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Speaker 3: is an issue that should have been solved forever ago,

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Speaker 3: but right now we're talking about you know, specifically law

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Speaker 3: enforcement and the police, which on its own is is

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Speaker 3: like pretty bad.

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Speaker 2: No, that's always the first step. Like, as soon as

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Speaker 2: you take control of the enforcement mechanism, then no one

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Speaker 2: really is able to stop you from doing other things.

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Speaker 2: And that's why the first steps in all of these

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Speaker 2: like you know, weird weird like far right Silicon Valley

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Speaker 2: like plans for how they can fix quote unquote fix

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Speaker 2: the government. Being able to take total control over the

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Speaker 2: law enforcement apparatus is always the first step because then

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Speaker 2: you can kind of do whatever you want from there

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Speaker 2: and no one's going to stop you.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, in order to revoke home rule, it would take

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Speaker 3: an Act of Congress, which this Congress seems more than

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Speaker 3: willing to do whatever Trump wants.

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Speaker 4: So that's something to keep in mind.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that for residents of DC, I think

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Speaker 3: the changes have been so stark in the last just

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Speaker 3: couple of forty eight hours that I think it's very

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Speaker 3: important to keep in mind what could be coming down

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Speaker 3: the pike and definitely be aware of it. But you know,

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Speaker 3: residents need to know what this means for them and

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Speaker 3: us today. And I think that, like it's is really

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Speaker 3: important to like highlight that. I think that because of

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Speaker 3: the nature of DC, it being the nation's capital, but

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Speaker 3: also where more than half a million people live, I

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Speaker 3: think it's really easy for people to forget that like

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Speaker 3: the experience of like people who live here, like me,

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Speaker 3: you know, And and I think it's in this moment

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Speaker 3: the people that I'm talking to on the ground really

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Speaker 3: are like focused on making sure that folks know what's

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Speaker 3: going on, have resources, you know, understand their rights, understand

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Speaker 3: that their rights have not changed just because of this.

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Speaker 4: Act this week.

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Speaker 3: And so I mean, the thing that I am emotionally

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Speaker 3: and personally struggling with is this smear of my city

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Speaker 3: being this like dangerous hell whole. How did you manage that?

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Speaker 3: What was the experience of going through that, like like

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Speaker 3: the dissonance of like your experience every day navigating the

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Speaker 3: streets of this place where you live, and then hearing

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Speaker 3: the national conversation about it be so different from how

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Speaker 3: you were experiencing it.

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Speaker 2: I think eventually it is kind of became like a

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Speaker 2: point of pride and more like an absurd aspect which

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Speaker 2: keeps like unwanted tourism down. I don't think it really

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Speaker 2: in the end bothered people in the long run. And

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Speaker 2: the reason why people had a big problem with it

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Speaker 2: specifically was because of federal law enforcement who were taking

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Speaker 2: over blocks in the city.

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Speaker 4: Like that.

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Speaker 2: That was the actual like like crux, Like Republicans constantly

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Speaker 2: talked about how, you know, insert any city here is

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Speaker 2: like falling apart, is overinden by crime, is you know,

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Speaker 2: a fallen state. You can't go out, and like they

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Speaker 2: just kind of pick a new one to put all

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Speaker 2: the attention on like once a week. So we're kind

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Speaker 2: of like used to this, to this rhetoric. It's it's

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Speaker 2: more so the actual like physical presence of law enforcement

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Speaker 2: and how that changes who were able to go throughout

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Speaker 2: the city and the presence of like militarized federal law enforcement.

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Speaker 2: That yeah, effects like just regular people. It's not just rhetoric.

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Speaker 2: It actually changes how you get to interact with your city.

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Speaker 2: And I guess that's the thing that actually caused people

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Speaker 2: in Portland to be much more upset, which results in

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Speaker 2: tens of thousands of people going out into the streets

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Speaker 2: and saying, no, we don't want you here. So, I

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Speaker 2: think more so than just like the rhetoric of how

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Speaker 2: X Y city is burned to the ground, it's more

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Speaker 2: so the like the actual physical daily life that produces

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Speaker 2: the actual tension within the city and how they get

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Speaker 2: changed and altered with federal law enforcement exactly.

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Speaker 3: I mean, that's pretty much what's happening on my streets

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Speaker 3: in DC. So about eight hundred and fifty officers and

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Speaker 3: agents took part in this what they called massive law

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Speaker 3: Enforcement Surge across DC, where they had between one hundred

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Speaker 3: and two hundred soldiers out patrolling the streets like beat

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Speaker 3: cops at any given time. And so, you know, some

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Speaker 3: of the things that we've seen in the last couple

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Speaker 3: of days, just simply as a longtime resident, like just

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Speaker 3: do not make sense, right, having federal agents patrol places

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Speaker 3: like Georgetown, which is very safe at ten o'clock at night.

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Speaker 4: That happened last night.

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Speaker 2: Well, Georgetown actually might be the most dangerous place in

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Speaker 2: the city.

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Speaker 4: Well in some ways, right if you're thinking about, like

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Speaker 4: the kind of crime they're talking tough about.

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Speaker 3: Yes, yes, or like the National Mall at QWPM a weekday,

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Speaker 3: places where it's like it don't even make sense for

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Speaker 3: y'all to be posted up there. You know, there was

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Speaker 3: a big display of force and arrest on my block

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Speaker 3: just last night in the middle of the night, where

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Speaker 3: we looked out the window and it was.

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Speaker 4: Car after car after car. Border patrol.

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Speaker 3: They set up the lights, they made arrests, and my

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Speaker 3: block is residential. So it's like places where it's like

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Speaker 3: it doesn't even seem to be making sense. And that's

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Speaker 3: why we know it's really not about crime. All of

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Speaker 3: the stuff that Trump said about crime and his pressor,

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Speaker 3: I mean, it was it was all just lies. Like

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Speaker 3: I guess, I don't you tell anybody listening to this,

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Speaker 3: but like in case you are here us whether or

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Speaker 3: not there's any credence to the fact, we're like, oh, well,

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Speaker 3: is crime going up in DC?

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Speaker 4: That is not true?

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Speaker 2: Right, So violent crebs have been going down the past

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Speaker 2: two years in DC consistently.

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Speaker 4: Absolutely so.

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Speaker 3: It is true that DC did have a spike in

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Speaker 3: crime in twenty twenty three, but since then crime is

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Speaker 3: going down. If you watched that press conference, he threw

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Speaker 3: out a lot of stats about how crime is going

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Speaker 3: in the wrong direction by every measure, that's simply not true.

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Speaker 3: He said that in twenty twenty three, the murder rate

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Speaker 3: in DC reached the highest rate. This is him, He said,

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Speaker 3: probably ever going back twenty five years, but that they

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Speaker 3: don't know what that means because the data just only

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Speaker 3: goes back twenty five years, saying basically that they didn't

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Speaker 3: collect crime statistics way back then. Think about that for

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Speaker 3: a second. Twenty five years ago was the year two thousand.

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Speaker 3: Do you really think that crime data was not being

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Speaker 3: collected in the year two thousand?

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Speaker 4: It absolutely was.

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Speaker 3: We absolutely know what crime in DC looked like in

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Speaker 3: the year two thousand and beyond. And so if there's

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Speaker 3: one thing people might know about DC is that in

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Speaker 3: the eighties and the nineties we were hit hard but

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Speaker 3: a crack epidemic. Crime was genuinely bare hi the city's

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Speaker 3: own crime statistics, which we did collect from the seventies,

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Speaker 3: eighties and nineties when the population in DC was smaller,

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Speaker 3: so that there was much more higher numbers of homicides

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Speaker 3: and murder.

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Speaker 4: So that's not just a lie.

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Speaker 3: It's also a weird, obvious lie, and one that when

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Speaker 3: I watched the press or I almost didn't catch.

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Speaker 4: It.

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Speaker 3: Wasn't until I sat that and went through the notes

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Speaker 3: and I was like, oh, this is not just a lie.

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Speaker 3: This is like a weird, glaring lie. I can't believe.

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Speaker 3: I like, I guess I say that to say there

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Speaker 3: are so many lies being thrown out in a short

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Speaker 3: amount of time. When they're all washing over you, it's

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Speaker 3: kind of hard to catch them one by one.

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Speaker 4: But then when you actually sit down, you're like, wow,

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Speaker 4: this was just bullshit.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the intention. That's to what Steve Beennen calls

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Speaker 2: like muzzle velocity. You have to shoot out these things constantly,

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Speaker 2: one after another, so that it's impossible to actually hone

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Speaker 2: in and quote unquote debunk each and every one because

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Speaker 2: by the time you're doing that, they've already moved on

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Speaker 2: to fifteen new things. You can never keep up with it.

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Speaker 2: And that's like the whole intention. That's like how they

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Speaker 2: craft litle like their sentences so that you can't just

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Speaker 2: like debunk everything they say because they just throw it

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Speaker 2: all out there, and it creates this massive structure that

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Speaker 2: even if you tried chipping away at the sides. It

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Speaker 2: doesn't actually make any effect and it doesn't matter at all.

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Speaker 2: And like, what's what's the real effect they're trying to

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Speaker 2: do here with sending in National Guard, federalizing the police.

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Speaker 2: It's to like scare black people, and it's to scare

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Speaker 2: homeless people. And that's really what they actually mean when

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Speaker 2: they say there's high crime. And I think DC is

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Speaker 2: what like the has like the third third largest black

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Speaker 2: population in the country.

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Speaker 4: That's right, we formally called Chocolate City.

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Speaker 3: We're more like a latte city today, but yeah, we

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Speaker 3: have a heavily black and brown population here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's what Trump's actually like focusing on. That's

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Speaker 2: actually what he's doing. I feel like that's that should

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Speaker 2: be pretty clear to anyone who's like familiar with like

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Speaker 2: crime panic narratives and how they've been strategically deployed throughout

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Speaker 2: the past twenty five years and you know, thirty forty

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Speaker 2: years of the country.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't see how somebody could see

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Speaker 3: what's happening and see the way that he is clearly

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Speaker 3: like even at that press or the list of cities

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Speaker 3: he was planning on going to next Chicago, Baltimore. It's like, okay,

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Speaker 3: heavily black cities with black political leadership and black mayor.

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Speaker 4: Oh, Oakland, this is very clear. What's going on? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Interesting, interesting choice, buddy, Yeah, Like what do all.

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Speaker 4: These places have in common? Right? One of the things

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Speaker 4: I've seen people.

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Speaker 3: Say is that this whole thing is about the attack

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Speaker 3: on the former DOGE staffer known as Big Balls.

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Speaker 2: Big Balls I think that's his technical term. Yes, possibly

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Speaker 2: to receive the Presidential Medal of I think freedom.

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Speaker 4: I think he got a medal. I think it happened.

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Speaker 2: It's quite possible, so we should show big Balls some

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Speaker 2: respect for his struggles.

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Speaker 4: I guess, yeah.

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Speaker 3: I mean it's I never thought I would se the

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Speaker 3: day where I'd be like reporting on story happening in

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Speaker 3: the city and talking about somebody named Big Balls.

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Speaker 4: But here we go.

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Speaker 2: Really, you did see this coven, You did see ekind of.

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Speaker 3: My being go card care. For a podcast that I

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Speaker 3: host about local DC news and issues called Citycast DC,

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Speaker 3: I interviewed Mark C. Graves, who was like a long

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Speaker 3: time DC reporter, and I said, Oh, is there any

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Speaker 3: truth to the idea that this attack on Big Balls is? Like,

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Speaker 3: what was the impetus to all this that Elon Musk

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Speaker 3: was like, Trump, you need to federalize DC's police department

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Speaker 3: because of what happened to my former staffer. And I

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Speaker 3: understand why people where that narrative is coming from. But

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Speaker 3: he really pointed out something, which is that, you know,

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Speaker 3: Trump has been talking about taking over DC's police department

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Speaker 3: for a very long time. He referenced it during his

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Speaker 3: first administration a little bit a lot less than he

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Speaker 3: did it the second time around. He really dialed it

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Speaker 3: up in his second campaign. He began talking about it

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Speaker 3: even in his first few months in office by threatening

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Speaker 3: to take control over MPD if our Mayor Muriel Bowser

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Speaker 3: did not make certain concessions like clearing homeless encampments near

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Speaker 3: the White House and removing Black Lives Matter plot from

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Speaker 3: outside the White House. He also threatened to take over

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Speaker 3: MPD and DC in general when a former Trump administration staffer,

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Speaker 3: Mike gil was shot and killed during a carjacking in

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Speaker 3: DC back in February. So when that happened again, he

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Speaker 3: was like, I'm taking over MPD, I'm taking over empty

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Speaker 3: So well, the Big Balls.

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Speaker 2: Thing, alleged carjacking of Big Balls, I will say this.

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Speaker 3: You know those stories where you're like, we're gonna get

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Speaker 3: more information about this, so it's best to just wait.

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Speaker 3: I have a I don't know anything. I don't have

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Speaker 3: any special details, but like my senses, this is one

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Speaker 3: of those situations where it's like, you know, first the

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Speaker 3: story was I was with a girlfriend in her car

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Speaker 3: and we were carjacked by two unarmed teens. Then Elon Musk,

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Speaker 3: super spreader of misinformation that he is, was like, oh,

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Speaker 3: he was attacked while trying to rescue an elderly woman. Like,

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Speaker 3: I just have seen enough about crime and DC I am.

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Speaker 3: I'm looking forward to hearing more information about what actually

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Speaker 3: went down there.

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Speaker 4: I'll just put it that way if that makes sense.

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Speaker 2: With mister big Balls, with mister big Ball, I guess

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Speaker 2: mister Balls, I guess big is the first mister Balls.

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Speaker 4: Please, mister Balls is my father. So yeah, Like, I

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Speaker 4: think the.

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Speaker 3: Big Balls thing might have been very convenient timing or

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Speaker 3: like a good excuse to actually move forward. But I

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Speaker 3: think narratives that big Balls got attacked and now Trump

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Speaker 3: is taking over MPD. Yeah, I think that like doesn't

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Speaker 3: really tell the whole story, which is that this has been.

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Speaker 4: A long time coming.

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Speaker 3: This has been something that Trump has been like obsessed

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Speaker 3: with for quite some time, even going back from before

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Speaker 3: his second administration.

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Speaker 2: And there's there's been like a media campaign in the

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Speaker 2: past few months of specifically taking like public transit robbery

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Speaker 2: videos and making them super viral of like teens who

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Speaker 2: will like steal like designer clothes on public transit, yeah,

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Speaker 2: and turning turning this into like a national epidemic. And

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Speaker 2: again you can look at look at the like the

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Speaker 2: shoplifting videos from a few years ago that even though

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Speaker 2: crime was going down, there was videos that very visible

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Speaker 2: videos of shoplifting that went super viral to help form

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Speaker 2: this this crime wave narrative that the statistics don't necessarily support,

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Speaker 2: to the point where you have Republicans actually like denying

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Speaker 2: the FBI's own crime statistics. F the FBI famously soft

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Speaker 2: on crime institution, the FBI, but Republicans saying that these

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Speaker 2: debts have to be wrong because we all know that

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Speaker 2: there's crime everywhere, and like, how do we know that

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Speaker 2: because you're seeing like a TikTok video about it and

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Speaker 2: that's your proof. As you've seen you saw one or

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Speaker 2: two videos of like people robbing an Apple store and

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Speaker 2: now you think that crime must be statistically higher everywhere, Okay, yeah,

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Speaker 2: And I.

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Speaker 3: Think that's why the Big Ball's narrative continues to really

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Speaker 3: be so sticky.

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Speaker 2: Ooh, I don't like that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't mean it how it sounds, but like,

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Speaker 3: it doesn't matter if you have statistics from the FBI

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Speaker 3: saying that crime is going down whatever whatever, when you

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Speaker 3: if you have a visceral image of like a bloodied

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Speaker 3: Big Balls.

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Speaker 4: Beaten on the street, right like, And so I think that.

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Speaker 3: It's it's really interesting how and I guess I'll just

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Speaker 3: say it, how easily manipulated people are, oh yeah, and

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Speaker 3: how they're able to go against the facts when they

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Speaker 3: are confronted with an image of like teens robbing a

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Speaker 3: CVS or like oh like yeah, like elluded out CBS

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Speaker 3: totally because that is so visceral. And so that's something

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Speaker 3: I've really struggled with, is like I don't know how

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Speaker 3: to counter these emotionally charged, visceral TikTok videos and images

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Speaker 3: that present one thing with facts, like it's like very

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Speaker 3: difficult to be like, well, the data says this when

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Speaker 3: people are being motivated by a different thing.

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Speaker 2: No, And that's why it's almost kind of fruitless to

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Speaker 2: go about that strategy at this point, and like, I

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Speaker 2: don't know how to approach this, and I think it's

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Speaker 2: also worth mentioning, like you're we are not immune to

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Speaker 2: this either. We might get targeted with like different narratives.

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Speaker 2: Maybe maybe a CVS robbery doesn't do it for us,

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Speaker 2: but no, like everyone's motivated by like emotional reactions to

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Speaker 2: things that we see as like bad or often horrific,

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Speaker 2: and that that does change the way that we understand

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Speaker 2: like the physical aspects, like the like the statistical patterns

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Speaker 2: of the world very clearly, Like we're we're emotional creatures.

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Speaker 2: That's what drives us. The fact that the emotional plight

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Speaker 2: of Big Balls is driving the ruling party in the

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Speaker 2: country right now is just a little bit more notable

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Speaker 2: because it's one white guy named Big Balls.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's true.

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Speaker 3: And it almost doesn't even make sense to like come

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Speaker 3: back the idea that this is about crime. But I

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Speaker 3: know it's not about crime because one, the Trump administration

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Speaker 3: recently made very drastic cuts to d C security funding,

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Speaker 3: and so if he was really very invested in crime

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Speaker 3: and DC seems like something that his administration would not

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Speaker 3: have done. Also, something that our mayor, who I do

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Speaker 3: want to talk about, has said is that, as you

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Speaker 3: were sort of alluding to earlier, federal agents and military

404
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Speaker 3: personnel are not the people who are going to be

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Speaker 3: useful when it comes to DC like street crime. These

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Speaker 3: are people who probably aren't even informed about DC's local

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Speaker 3: ordinances and laws. Why would they be right, and so

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Speaker 3: these are not people whose jobs it is to be

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Speaker 3: out engaging with some millions about quality of life crimes

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Speaker 3: like open containers or drinking on sidewalks. I saw a

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Speaker 3: pretty viral video of the police going up and stopping

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Speaker 3: somebody for he says, smoking a joint on his porch.

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Speaker 4: In DC, you are allowed to possess marijuana.

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Speaker 3: But he also was like, just so you know, Trump

415
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Speaker 3: is cracking down on all of these quality of life crimes.

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Speaker 3: So you can't drink a beer on your portion anymore.

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Speaker 3: That's incorrect in the district of club, but you absolutely

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Speaker 3: can drink alcohol on your private property outside. And it's like, well,

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Speaker 3: how would he know. He's not even from here. He's

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Speaker 3: a federal agent, So like, yeah, these are not people

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Speaker 3: who are trained or skilled in combating the kind of

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Speaker 3: civilian level street crime that we're seeing them do.

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Speaker 4: This is just not an appropriate use of these people.

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Speaker 3: And so the thing that kind of gets me is

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Speaker 3: that for the amount of money that we are spending

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Speaker 3: on having federal agents deal with low level street crime

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Speaker 3: like per MPD and per the DOJ's own statistics, the

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Speaker 3: kind of crimes that they are been combating this week

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Speaker 3: are things like open contained a fair evasions. It was like, yeah,

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Speaker 3: you need you need an FBI agent to deal with this,

431
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Speaker 3: what are you talking about? But the money that we're spending,

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Speaker 3: we probably could house every single unhoused person in the

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Speaker 3: district of Columbia with the money that we are spending

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Speaker 3: on this nonsense. It's like, that's the thing that makes

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Speaker 3: me so angry. I don't want to live in a

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Speaker 3: city that's full of crime. Luckily I don't because crime

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Speaker 3: is going down. But if you genuinely wanted to combat crime,

438
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:25,960
Speaker 3: there is a reasonable way to do this. And this

439
00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,840
Speaker 3: is just a big show of force to freak everybody

440
00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,280
Speaker 3: out and basically demonstrate that Trump can go into cities

441
00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:32,840
Speaker 3: and do this.

442
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,720
Speaker 2: It's not actually about lowering crime. The reason why they

443
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,600
Speaker 2: would never want to house peoples because they don't actually

444
00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,240
Speaker 2: want to. They don't want homeless people to live good lives.

445
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,479
Speaker 2: They want to exercise power. That's the primary motivator. And

446
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,720
Speaker 2: not only can bringing an out of state police be

447
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,040
Speaker 2: like inconvenient, it can have lethal consequences, right because they

448
00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:53,119
Speaker 2: do not know the areas that they're policing, They do

449
00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:56,320
Speaker 2: not know the people in those areas. They don't understand

450
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,240
Speaker 2: what it's actually like. When I was at the Republican

451
00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 2: National Conference Committee, I don't know how do how do

452
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,360
Speaker 2: I not know what the RNC is convention?

453
00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,639
Speaker 4: It depends on if you're talking about the event or

454
00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:10,880
Speaker 4: the like entity the entity.

455
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,040
Speaker 2: When I was at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee,

456
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:19,359
Speaker 2: Wisconsin last year, I responded to the scene of a

457
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,280
Speaker 2: police shooting where police from out of state who were

458
00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:26,679
Speaker 2: brought in for the convention, we're policing outside of the

459
00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:30,600
Speaker 2: area the convention and shot and killed a homeless black

460
00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:34,040
Speaker 2: man because they did not understand where the homeless people

461
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:37,520
Speaker 2: have their encampments, how they solve disputes, how people can

462
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,719
Speaker 2: get into fights. But that does not mean like you

463
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,080
Speaker 2: have to kill people who are having a fight. So no,

464
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 2: this has drastic consequences. Something that the police Milwaukee would

465
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 2: would have been aware of this encampment, would have possibly

466
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 2: been aware of the normal way that homeless people can

467
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,280
Speaker 2: get in two fights with each other but are not

468
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:58,800
Speaker 2: going to kill each other. Instead, you have an out

469
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,000
Speaker 2: of state cap from like oh I or something get

470
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,160
Speaker 2: freaked out that two people are fighting and then shoot

471
00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 2: one of them and stuff like. This is why out

472
00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,640
Speaker 2: of state police are so dangerous when they're being brought

473
00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,080
Speaker 2: into communities that they really just don't understand exactly that.

474
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,359
Speaker 3: I did an interview with a local community organizer in

475
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,200
Speaker 3: DC and they told me pretty much the same thing,

476
00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,879
Speaker 3: that there is an aspect of trust and relationship building

477
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,320
Speaker 3: that goes into not just like solving crimes, but combating

478
00:23:28,359 --> 00:23:30,440
Speaker 3: crimes before they start, right, Like, there is a level

479
00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:33,600
Speaker 3: of deep relationship building and trust building that has to

480
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 3: be in effect there and that is what actually can

481
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,200
Speaker 3: sometimes make communities safer. When it comes to unhoused people

482
00:23:41,200 --> 00:23:43,679
Speaker 3: and immigrants, these are not people who are committing crimes.

483
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 3: These are people who are statistically more likely to be

484
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 3: the victims of crimes. And so when you bring in

485
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,359
Speaker 3: outside forces who do not have trust, who who have

486
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,720
Speaker 3: not built that relationship, and they're terrorizing the communities that

487
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,200
Speaker 3: are statistically more likely to be the victims of crime.

488
00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,479
Speaker 3: That's going to be the thing that results in the

489
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:03,159
Speaker 3: opposite up crime going down, right, because you are damaging

490
00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,960
Speaker 3: whatever trust and whatever relationship and whatever understandings have been

491
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,360
Speaker 3: built with this community and law enforcement going forward. Right,

492
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,840
Speaker 3: And so if we're genuinely interested in buildings are for communities,

493
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 3: bringing in all of these outside military and federal personnel

494
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:18,919
Speaker 3: is simply not how you do it.

495
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:20,040
Speaker 4: That's how I know it's bullshit.

496
00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:21,800
Speaker 3: They don't actually care about any of this, and like

497
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 3: it is, it is sort of crazy making because I

498
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,879
Speaker 3: feel like they want us spinning out about all of

499
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,800
Speaker 3: this stuff, all of this bullshit that they're spinning, which

500
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:30,360
Speaker 3: fucking guiltiest charge for me this week is all I've

501
00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:32,800
Speaker 3: been doing. But you know, it's just it's this. They're

502
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:35,199
Speaker 3: so effective at the spin and the manipulation.

503
00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,320
Speaker 2: No, I'm one of the former Fox News hosts who

504
00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:41,040
Speaker 2: somehow has a position in government.

505
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 4: Heeg seth.

506
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:46,160
Speaker 2: No, it was another one. No, No, there is another.

507
00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:51,280
Speaker 2: This is which one? It was one of the ones

508
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 2: who looks like your evil aunt. Oh uh Dinian Pierro Yes,

509
00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 2: Oh my god, I'm glad that we could figure that

510
00:24:58,119 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 2: out based on that description.

511
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,639
Speaker 3: That's that's all you had to say.

512
00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 2: But she was specifically asked, like, what are you going

513
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:07,879
Speaker 2: to do to address the root cause of crime? And

514
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,480
Speaker 2: she says, we don't want to. We're not going to.

515
00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,399
Speaker 2: That's not what we're actually focusing on. We're focusing on

516
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 2: just like eliminating crime, Yeah, through like force, through intimidation,

517
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,920
Speaker 2: and not even actually eliminating crime, just just just exercising power,

518
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:24,200
Speaker 2: which is what they're actually trying to say. And that's

519
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 2: that's the whole point of this.

520
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:30,359
Speaker 3: Yes, and it's not just crime written large through force.

521
00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 3: It is crime in cities that are run by democrats

522
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 3: that are heavily black and brown populations. Because yeah, you

523
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,920
Speaker 3: don't see them going into white communities that have crime,

524
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:40,280
Speaker 3: which white communities do have crime.

525
00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:41,560
Speaker 4: You don't see them going into.

526
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,520
Speaker 3: Cities where they have Republican mayors where crime is also

527
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,359
Speaker 3: quite bad. No, that's not even that's not even like

528
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:51,159
Speaker 3: part of the conversation. It is very clear what they

529
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 3: are saying. This is an attack.

530
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:53,439
Speaker 2: It's about power.

531
00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a show of power to communities that

532
00:25:56,359 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 3: we don't like. And I have to say something about this,

533
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:01,720
Speaker 3: which is that you know, when this first happened, when

534
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,919
Speaker 3: I was interviewing that longtime reporter Mark Seagraves, something that

535
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,280
Speaker 3: he told me that really scared me was that the

536
00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 3: administration is doing this entirely legally and by the book.

537
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 4: He was like, Oh, it's clear that they are.

538
00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,160
Speaker 3: Following every letter of the law, to the point where

539
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,520
Speaker 3: the first statement out of our mayor's office was that

540
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,600
Speaker 3: they were not challenging this takeover of MPD. Yeah, because

541
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,119
Speaker 3: they did not feel like they had any kind of

542
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 3: legal grounds to do so, which is grim. That really

543
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 3: tells me that they have got their act together. There

544
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 3: was a time where people were like, Oh, they're just

545
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,360
Speaker 3: going to do things and see what sticks and see

546
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 3: what you know, see what gets challenged and court, see

547
00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,000
Speaker 3: what they can get away with. It really tells me

548
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:37,960
Speaker 3: a lot that in this instance, they're like, we're doing

549
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,119
Speaker 3: this by the book, so that there is no legal

550
00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:41,320
Speaker 3: challenge to what we are doing.

551
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 2: What has the reaction been like from like city government?

552
00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,560
Speaker 3: Ugh, I mean, I will say I came on this

553
00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,879
Speaker 3: podcast a while ago and I would say, like, I

554
00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:06,679
Speaker 3: don't want to say I defended our mayor Muriel Bowser,

555
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,919
Speaker 3: but I did want to say like she is in

556
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:11,880
Speaker 3: a position that no other elected official in the country

557
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,160
Speaker 3: is in where she has to sort of play nice

558
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,480
Speaker 3: with a madman. I play on the show, and I

559
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 3: said that she had this strategy of appeasement and making concessions, which,

560
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:23,919
Speaker 3: you know, say what you would about it, I believe

561
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,400
Speaker 3: was grounded in an attempt to like.

562
00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 4: Work with Trump to avoid worse outcomes.

563
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,680
Speaker 2: To avoid this from happening, to avoid this from happening.

564
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:35,320
Speaker 3: So my point is now, I mean, it really shows

565
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:38,960
Speaker 3: you the futality of trying to make concessions with a fascist, Right.

566
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 2: What's the point.

567
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, because the thing that we were trying to avoid,

568
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:45,160
Speaker 3: the thing that all of these little appeasements and concessions.

569
00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,200
Speaker 4: Were meant to avoid, has happened. To be clear, Trump

570
00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:48,560
Speaker 4: has not.

571
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,480
Speaker 3: Taken over DC entirely, and home rules still stands, and

572
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,560
Speaker 3: so the very worst outcome has not happened yet. But

573
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,439
Speaker 3: this is pretty damn bad, and so part of me

574
00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:00,360
Speaker 3: is like, what did all those concessions get you? And day,

575
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:04,399
Speaker 3: just this morning, she has totally flipped her tune on this.

576
00:28:04,520 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 3: She actually flew to mar A Lago to see Trump

577
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,840
Speaker 3: yesterday and she came back saying, well, maybe having more

578
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,520
Speaker 3: law enforcement in communities in DC will make people safer.

579
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:16,560
Speaker 3: And I just cannot express to you how much it

580
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 3: feels like I would speak for myself, it feels like

581
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:22,040
Speaker 3: we have been abandoned by leadership when we need it most.

582
00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 3: Right in DC, we have the mayor Mariel Bowser, who

583
00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,000
Speaker 3: I just told you about. We have a congressional representative,

584
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 3: Eleanor Holmes Norton, who has a long time a history

585
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:35,640
Speaker 3: of being a fighter and protector of DC's autonomy. However,

586
00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:37,840
Speaker 3: she can't vote, so she doesn't really have a lot

587
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,840
Speaker 3: of power, and a big conversation in DC has been

588
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:43,040
Speaker 3: the fact that she is really aging. She is, like

589
00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 3: I think, the second oldest member of Congress in the

590
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 3: United States, and it just we don't feel like we

591
00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:51,840
Speaker 3: have anybody who can fight for us, who can speak

592
00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:54,440
Speaker 3: up for us. And I will say this, like, I'm

593
00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:56,760
Speaker 3: very disappointed in our mayor. I'm very disappointed in the

594
00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:00,200
Speaker 3: fact that she has seems to have really been behind.

595
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:00,760
Speaker 4: Trump on this.

596
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 3: She does have a not terrible relationship with Trump, which

597
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:06,960
Speaker 3: in some ways can be good or bad depending on

598
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:08,840
Speaker 3: how you look at it. But I went into this

599
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:10,360
Speaker 3: having a sense that, oh well, I think our mayor

600
00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:11,680
Speaker 3: is going to fight for us, our mayor is going

601
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,480
Speaker 3: to fight for DC's autonomy. And I'm coming out of

602
00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,720
Speaker 3: it thinking, I don't think that she is fighting for

603
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 3: us like the way that I would want her to

604
00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:21,360
Speaker 3: be positioning herself in this moment, I'm not seeing her do.

605
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 3: And the reality is, unfortunately the mayor of DC doesn't

606
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 3: really have a lot of power and protection. She does

607
00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,560
Speaker 3: when you when you compare that to somebody like Gavin Newsom,

608
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 3: who when Trump sent the National Guard into LA knows

609
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,160
Speaker 3: that he has like the power of two senators behind him, right,

610
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,479
Speaker 3: Like our mayor doesn't have that.

611
00:29:38,520 --> 00:29:41,040
Speaker 4: And it just really made clear when it comes to

612
00:29:41,320 --> 00:29:42,760
Speaker 4: protecting DC.

613
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 3: We're really on our own. We're really all we have.

614
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,720
Speaker 3: We don't really have a lot of power. We are

615
00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 3: really depending on folks like you care to get the

616
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,920
Speaker 3: word out the people who do have elected officials that

617
00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 3: they can call and advocate, because.

618
00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 4: Like there's really nobody to call.

619
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:02,240
Speaker 3: And I will say I will say this, if the

620
00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:05,800
Speaker 3: worst thing happens and DC's home rule is overturned, which

621
00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 3: would be a disaster, Like I should come back on

622
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,640
Speaker 3: the show and talk about what that would look like.

623
00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,680
Speaker 4: If that happens, DC will have no one.

624
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,520
Speaker 3: The only people who will be in charge of how

625
00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,880
Speaker 3: DC is run is Trump and a small handful of

626
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 3: people that he would personally appoint to be the commissioner

627
00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:24,560
Speaker 3: of DC.

628
00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 4: So the last time that DC did.

629
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:28,160
Speaker 3: Not have home rule, it was the only people who

630
00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:30,000
Speaker 3: were in charge were the President and I think it

631
00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,240
Speaker 3: was three commissioners that he personally appointed. None of these

632
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,160
Speaker 3: people lived in DC other than the President who lived

633
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,400
Speaker 3: in the White House. And so down to the smallest

634
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 3: aspect of city life, I'm talking about social services, DC,

635
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:45,040
Speaker 3: health like unemployment, the streets, the schools, all of that

636
00:30:45,280 --> 00:30:48,680
Speaker 3: would be run by President Trump. I cannot express to

637
00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:51,920
Speaker 3: you what a disaster this would be. And the smallest

638
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 3: thing getting done in DC, down to a pothole being repaved,

639
00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:57,800
Speaker 3: would take congressional oversight.

640
00:30:58,040 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 4: So anybody who thinks that.

641
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 3: That is a a reasonable way to run a city,

642
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,400
Speaker 3: oh my god, wake up.

643
00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:08,200
Speaker 2: Well, I am not thrilled about the idea of commissioner

644
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,720
Speaker 2: big balls, because that would happen. You know that, I know.

645
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 2: And it's funny you mentioned Newsome, and Newsom was another

646
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:17,120
Speaker 2: guy who was trying to make concessions with Trump, specifically

647
00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 2: around like trans sports.

648
00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 4: Oh my god, don't even get me started.

649
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 2: And he tried to, you know, make make those sort

650
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,400
Speaker 2: of like concessions and like roll back some aspects of

651
00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:29,000
Speaker 2: supporting trans people in schools and trans kids, and then

652
00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,760
Speaker 2: Trump's Department of Education still went after California schools, so like, yeah,

653
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:34,680
Speaker 2: no matter what concessions you give, they will still go

654
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,320
Speaker 2: after you. Earlier, you mentioned there was like a rest

655
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 2: on your block last night, Like how how is this

656
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:43,960
Speaker 2: affected daily life for you and other are the residents

657
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:44,480
Speaker 2: of like DC?

658
00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:47,280
Speaker 4: So far it has been grim.

659
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 3: You know, we've seen Border Patrol, EDA, FBI National Guard

660
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:55,480
Speaker 3: just walking the streets. And again, like something about DC

661
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,320
Speaker 3: is that in August pretty much everybody leaves towns.

662
00:31:58,360 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 4: What's a bit of a ghost town?

663
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:05,120
Speaker 3: There is nothing that justifies the massive disruption in city

664
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 3: services that has happened. On my street last night they

665
00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:14,160
Speaker 3: had a row of Border Patrol SUVs blocking traffic for

666
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 3: genuinely no reason. Like the level to which to say

667
00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:21,320
Speaker 3: are they are purposely disrupting the flow of city life

668
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,239
Speaker 3: cannot be overstated. And you know, I want to make

669
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,480
Speaker 3: it clear also, this is, as you said, a real

670
00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,360
Speaker 3: attack on the unhoused community in DC. We have already

671
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:32,600
Speaker 3: seen very disturbing images of unhoused people being taken away

672
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,280
Speaker 3: by police yesterday in the White House at that they

673
00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 3: were going to be forcibly removing unhoused people, forcing them

674
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,520
Speaker 3: into shelters, hospitals, or jails, and if they didn't go,

675
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,160
Speaker 3: they would face fines. I mean finding somebody who was

676
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,320
Speaker 3: living on the street, Like, what are you doing?

677
00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, finding someone who has no money? Yeah?

678
00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 5: Yeah.

679
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:52,719
Speaker 3: And DC has a long history of having an issue

680
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,960
Speaker 3: with the unhoused community. We do not have enough shelters

681
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:58,640
Speaker 3: to accommodate people, and even if we did not, everybody's

682
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:00,800
Speaker 3: gonna want to go to a shelter. So this has

683
00:33:00,840 --> 00:33:03,120
Speaker 3: been an issue long before Trump was ever in DC,

684
00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,840
Speaker 3: and it does take some complexity and thoughtfulness to solve it.

685
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 3: Not just going in and removing people by brute force,

686
00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,680
Speaker 3: Like that is the absolute worst.

687
00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:13,600
Speaker 4: Thing that you can be doing for this.

688
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,120
Speaker 2: No, I mean that that relates to Trump's like anti

689
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,719
Speaker 2: Vagrancy executive Order from a few weeks ago, where he

690
00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 2: wants to lock homeless people up in like mental hospitals

691
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 2: and jails and like like like forcibly so and like

692
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 2: change change the rules for how how shelters work, how

693
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:34,800
Speaker 2: shelters can get funding mandatory like drug treatments, and yeah,

694
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 2: really actually just trying to like involuntarily commit people into

695
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:44,760
Speaker 2: civil institutions exactly. I see parts of what he's doing

696
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 2: in DC is trying to demonstrate his like plan for

697
00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 2: that and how he wants that to spread across the

698
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 2: country and just yeah, taking people off the street but

699
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 2: then locking them either in a jail or onto like

700
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:58,000
Speaker 2: a hospital bed.

701
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,320
Speaker 3: Yes, and there was also an ice raid at the

702
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:06,959
Speaker 3: home depot out in Northeast this week. Basically, I do

703
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,560
Speaker 3: think that first and foremost this is an attack on

704
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,759
Speaker 3: DC's black, brown, immigrant, and unhoused community. But you know,

705
00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 3: I've seen images of empty bars and empty restaurants where

706
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,440
Speaker 3: ice and border patrol are are inside the place.

707
00:34:21,640 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, why would you want to go out? So if

708
00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,600
Speaker 2: there's the fucking like the military grading around.

709
00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,040
Speaker 4: Yes, it's fucking up the vibes right, Like that's I

710
00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:30,719
Speaker 4: will say. Like so in addition to.

711
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:33,759
Speaker 3: The attacks on these vulnerable communities, like, if you want

712
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,759
Speaker 3: to have a community where people feel safe to go out,

713
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:37,320
Speaker 3: they want to spend money, they want.

714
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 4: To like enjoy the city, the vibes are terrible.

715
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 3: This is this is just everything that makes DC great

716
00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 3: and a good place to live in a place that

717
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,480
Speaker 3: people want to come and spend time and and and

718
00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,680
Speaker 3: start their families. This kind of show of force goes

719
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 3: against that and threatens that. It really does threat like

720
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,000
Speaker 3: DC is a particular place. It's like why this is

721
00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,440
Speaker 3: my home? This kind of stuff really threatens our way

722
00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:01,200
Speaker 3: of life in ways that are just in is just sad.

723
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if you have like examples like what

724
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,719
Speaker 2: people are trying to do to cope with this or

725
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,240
Speaker 2: try to like like stand their ground in their community.

726
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,719
Speaker 2: I guess, but like how are people like channeling their

727
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:15,880
Speaker 2: frustration right now?

728
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,680
Speaker 3: Well, there was a very viral video of somebody throwing

729
00:35:18,719 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 3: a sub sandwich at a military personnel on U Street.

730
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,640
Speaker 2: So well that's a start. As long as we if

731
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:27,759
Speaker 2: we can get fifty thousand people with sub sandwiches, we

732
00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:30,919
Speaker 2: might be onto something hero DC needs. So that's one

733
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:35,320
Speaker 2: literally the hero DC needs. Yeah, I see.

734
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 3: What you did there, Yeah, I would say, so there

735
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,359
Speaker 3: are I feel grateful that there are organizations in DC,

736
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 3: like local organizations that we're preparing for this and so

737
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,520
Speaker 3: organizations like Free DC. I spoke to one of their

738
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 3: representatives earlier this week about what they're doing, and they're

739
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,800
Speaker 3: really focused on giving residents resources, and so they're running

740
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 3: cop watching trainings.

741
00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:55,560
Speaker 2: That's good.

742
00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 4: That's good. They're making sure that.

743
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,200
Speaker 3: Folks know that their rights have not changed, know their

744
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,680
Speaker 3: rights if an agent comes up to you to talk

745
00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:04,480
Speaker 3: to you. They're making sure people know what they do

746
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 3: and don't have to say in those situations, which I

747
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:07,080
Speaker 3: think is important.

748
00:36:07,080 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 4: People should definitely check out Free DC.

749
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:10,920
Speaker 3: They've been around since the sixties or they have been

750
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:14,640
Speaker 3: protecting DC's autonomy for a very long time. One of

751
00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,600
Speaker 3: the things that they were telling folks to do was

752
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,680
Speaker 3: do you remember how in twenty twenty people would go

753
00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,160
Speaker 3: outside and bang pots and pants to thank essential workers

754
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,120
Speaker 3: and medical personnel.

755
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,640
Speaker 4: They were telling folks, because.

756
00:36:27,239 --> 00:36:30,000
Speaker 3: The streets feel so militarized, not everybody's gonna feel like

757
00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:31,560
Speaker 3: going out to a protest or going out to a

758
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:34,399
Speaker 3: march at eight o'clock at night. Make as much noise

759
00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:36,400
Speaker 3: as you can, whether it's from your open window or

760
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,839
Speaker 3: from your block, or from your stoop, as a way

761
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,719
Speaker 3: to demonstrate opposition to this. And so if you want

762
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,480
Speaker 3: more information about the kinds of that kind of organizing

763
00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:47,600
Speaker 3: that they're trying to provide for folks.

764
00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:51,239
Speaker 4: Definitely check out Free DC. But I do think I mean.

765
00:36:51,320 --> 00:36:57,120
Speaker 3: The vibes are rage, and I hate that that rage

766
00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,799
Speaker 3: feels so impotent that we that like this is just

767
00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,919
Speaker 3: a another a million examples of why we need full

768
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:05,880
Speaker 3: state that we've needed it for so long, because we

769
00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,719
Speaker 3: are being disenfranchised. We have the possibility that people in

770
00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:12,839
Speaker 3: power in DC could be people that nobody elected. Trump

771
00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,640
Speaker 3: could appoint anybody as Commissioner of DC and yeah, it

772
00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:18,600
Speaker 3: could be big balls, right, And so we are in

773
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:20,680
Speaker 3: a situation that is so grim and.

774
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,479
Speaker 4: I think that shows you know, people, people are really

775
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:23,920
Speaker 4: feeling that.

776
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 3: And I guess one thing I want to I want

777
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,280
Speaker 3: to add is that I was talking earlier about how

778
00:37:30,640 --> 00:37:33,600
Speaker 3: it's frustrating that I find that I'm often in this

779
00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 3: conversation like trying to combat Trump, and I feel I

780
00:37:36,680 --> 00:37:39,040
Speaker 3: feel like I'm in a a stance that I hate,

781
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,800
Speaker 3: which is this reactive stance where pace uws bullshit and

782
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 3: I feel like it's my job to debunk it, and

783
00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:44,080
Speaker 3: it's like, well it's a bullshit.

784
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 4: I could be doing other things. I hate that.

785
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 3: We have gotten this narrative that cities are bad, and

786
00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:55,680
Speaker 3: that goes against our shared understanding of this country where

787
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 3: cities are good. If you live in a city, don't

788
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:01,320
Speaker 3: let Trump turn you against city life. Don't let Trump

789
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,680
Speaker 3: turn you against cities. People want to be in cities.

790
00:38:03,719 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 3: Cities are good, cities are safe, cities are cool to live,

791
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:08,520
Speaker 3: and people want to be in the city. If people

792
00:38:08,520 --> 00:38:10,319
Speaker 3: didn't want to live in DC, my rent wouldn't be

793
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:12,400
Speaker 3: so goddamn high. Right, people want to be here for

794
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:14,560
Speaker 3: a reason. When Trump got up on that presser and

795
00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,399
Speaker 3: talked about how tourists come to DC this and that

796
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,200
Speaker 3: he's right, if DC were truly a bombed out hell hole,

797
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,320
Speaker 3: taurus wouldn't want to bring their families here. Cities are good,

798
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:26,480
Speaker 3: and I don't think that we should let Trump rewrite

799
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,239
Speaker 3: the narrative that our cities are bad.

800
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 4: Cities are good, They are good places to be.

801
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:32,600
Speaker 3: We don't have to get caught up in his fake,

802
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 3: bullshit narrative of demonizing cities.

803
00:38:35,560 --> 00:38:37,960
Speaker 2: So that's why I think everyone should travel to d C.

804
00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,839
Speaker 2: Let's all go to the Capitol, put on some put

805
00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:43,680
Speaker 2: on some masks, wave some flags, and just get in

806
00:38:43,719 --> 00:38:48,440
Speaker 2: there to show could we could take it over. We

807
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,759
Speaker 2: could take the city back Joe Biden twenty twenty eight.

808
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 4: Let's go.

809
00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:52,600
Speaker 2: Yeah.

810
00:38:52,640 --> 00:38:55,520
Speaker 3: I mean I did see this interview on News Nation

811
00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:57,480
Speaker 3: where I think it was Medi Hassan was talking to

812
00:38:57,520 --> 00:39:00,200
Speaker 3: some shithead and he was like, Oh, if Trump cares

813
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:02,439
Speaker 3: about crime so much, why did he pardon a bunch

814
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:06,600
Speaker 3: of January sixth attackers who threatened and attacked law enforcement?

815
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:07,600
Speaker 4: And it's like, oh, he would.

816
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:09,920
Speaker 3: The interviewer was just like, oh, come on, come on,

817
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:11,320
Speaker 3: you want to talk about that, come.

818
00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:13,839
Speaker 4: On, And it's like, Okay, I thought tough on crime. Huh,

819
00:39:13,920 --> 00:39:14,560
Speaker 4: tough on crime.

820
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:19,680
Speaker 2: Okay, No, it's it's it's crime with three ellipses, not

821
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:23,479
Speaker 2: the actual category of crime exactly, crime wink wink.

822
00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:24,840
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's like, we know.

823
00:39:24,719 --> 00:39:27,880
Speaker 3: What they're what they're trying to say. But honestly, just

824
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,320
Speaker 3: talking to you about this has made me feel a

825
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:32,960
Speaker 3: lot better. I've been raging all week, so this is

826
00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:34,719
Speaker 3: the first time that I feel like I've actually like

827
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:35,799
Speaker 3: gotten it all out.

828
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:37,600
Speaker 4: So thank you for talking to me about it.

829
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, we will. We will certainly keep up with

830
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:45,480
Speaker 2: what's happening in DC with you know, how long National

831
00:39:45,480 --> 00:39:49,200
Speaker 2: Guard's going to be there, how long this this federalization lasts.

832
00:39:49,440 --> 00:39:52,359
Speaker 2: Maybe they'll eliminate all crime within thirty days and things

833
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:54,080
Speaker 2: will go back to normal. Who knows.

834
00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:55,160
Speaker 4: I mean the.

835
00:39:55,239 --> 00:39:57,320
Speaker 3: Day that he took over, there was olver there was

836
00:39:57,320 --> 00:39:59,080
Speaker 3: a shooting like an hour or two later, So I

837
00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:00,560
Speaker 3: was like, oh, that's all We're gonna handle this?

838
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 2: Well, I guess not, but no, we will keep up

839
00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,160
Speaker 2: with this as well as Trump's promise is to go

840
00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 2: further and expand to five other cities. So thank you

841
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:16,120
Speaker 2: for sharing your thoughts and experiences as a resident of DC.

842
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:19,960
Speaker 3: Bridget, Thank you for having me, And yeah, like, if

843
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 3: you're out there in DC, stay safe, keep hope alive.

844
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:24,840
Speaker 4: We're all we got.

845
00:40:25,320 --> 00:40:28,040
Speaker 2: Where else can people find you on the internet? Bridget?

846
00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:30,560
Speaker 2: Besides you know, on the on the steps of the

847
00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,360
Speaker 2: Capitol waving an American flag, Yeah.

848
00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,880
Speaker 4: In a mask. Yeah. You can find me at my podcasts.

849
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:39,960
Speaker 3: I have a podcast on iHeartRadio called there Are No

850
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 3: Girls on the Internet. I have a podcast about local

851
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:45,759
Speaker 3: DC news and issues called Citycast DC. You can also

852
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,759
Speaker 3: find me on Instagram at bridget rain d C, on

853
00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:50,160
Speaker 3: TikTok at bridget rain DC, or on YouTube and there

854
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:51,320
Speaker 3: Are No Girls on the Internet.

855
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:52,120
Speaker 4: Cheers.

856
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,920
Speaker 5: It could Happen Here is a production of cool Zone Media.

857
00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:02,120
Speaker 5: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website

858
00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:05,799
Speaker 5: foolzonmedia dot com, or check us out on the iHeartRadio app,

859
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:09,480
Speaker 5: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can

860
00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:11,840
Speaker 5: now find sources for it could happen here listed directly

861
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:13,120
Speaker 5: in episode descriptions.

862
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening.