Brady Responds to Trump’s Federal Takeover of D.C. Law Enforcement And Mobilizing National Guard After Vow to “Stop Violent Crime”

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 11, 2025 — Today, Brady, a leading national gun violence prevention group, released a statement responding to President Trump‘s order taking over District of Columbia law enforcement and deploying National Guard troops in a supposed attempt to crack down on crime and violence.

Brady President Kris Brown said: 

With today’s actions, Trump has further undermined and disenfranchised D.C. residents, and made  our nation’s capital  a militarized zone. To be clear, this is the same Donald Trump who inspired a mob then impotently stood by while  they attacked the U.S. Capitol in the worst outbreak of mass violence in recent District memory on January 6. He does not care about D.C. or the 700,000 people who call it home.

“Trump’s narrative about D.C. is not based in reality or in facts. Violent crime, including crimes involving firearms, has fallen precipitously since 2023 and were at a 30-year low the day the president returned to the Oval Office. That fall is directly attributable to recent policy efforts to reduce violence, including increased investment in community-based violence intervention work being done by local D.C. residents and organizations, ward by ward. This work was supercharged with funding with the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act during the Biden-Harris administration - funding that the Trump-Vance administration is now terminating. Restoring this funding would continue to reduce violent crime more effectively than federalizing law enforcement. 

“We cannot allow the president to use armed intimidation and overpolicing to further exploit D.C. residents — who already have no congressional representation — and continue his dangerous march to authoritarianism. We cannot allow the president to suggest that federalized police is an appropriate response to any and all challenges; or that federalized police do not further endanger the public, especially Black and Brown communities who live and work in or visit D.C. We know what strategies and policies reduce gun crime, and this is not it. We call on every public official in the District and around the country to condemn Trump’s moves and make clear that self-determination is a bedrock of American government from the smallest town council to the entire nation.