At several contentious moments in US history, the American government has taken direct control of cities, enforcing a new rule of law that takes power away from local officials.
After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr in 1968, over 13,000 soldiers were deployed to the streets of DC to stop unrest. A century earlier, after the Civil War, the New Orleans Massacre of 1866 brought to power the 1867 Reconstruction Acts that put control of southern states in the hands of the US military to ensure civil rights were being upheld.
Today, US President Donald Trump has deployed over 800 National Guard troops to the streets of Washington, D.C., while taking direct control of the local police force due to a “growing crime epidemic.” To do this, Trump activated Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, legislation passed in 1973 that introduced a form of self-governance for the city (like other Los Angeles or New York) but gave the President and Congress the right to take control of D.C. in times of emergency, be it a natural disaster, virus, or a crime surge.
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