DC Officials Expose What’s Really Happening in City

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0:58Ben Meiselas:You have MAGA Republican leaders going on live TV in these disastrous appearances this morning and last night, oftentimes representing states and communities with far higher crime rates than Washington, D.C. or Chicago and elsewhere. and talking about how they want their states, whether it's like South Carolina or Oklahoma or Mississippi or whatever, to send more troops into D.C. and Chicago. Here's Congressmember Ralph Norman from this morning. Let's play. Do you support National Guard troops in these cities if it comes to that? Absolutely. You know, I mean, why not? I mean, you know, the fact that the crime speaks for itself, the numbers speak for themselves.

1:41You mentioned Chicago. Look at Los Angeles. Look at New York City. I mean, let the politicians complain about those who want to keep them safe. I wonder if it.

1:52Ben Meiselas:Yeah, the crime in South Carolina is far higher and cities in South Carolina and a lot of the cities he talks about have all time low crime. And that's what they're doing in these red states. This is what Christy Noem, Department of Homeland Security secretary, is now saying, creating this fantasy, fictitious world about Washington, D.C. and America. Everyone all of a sudden is liberated. This is this is what liberation feels like. Here play this clip. As done. And so the American people are feeling freedom again. I think they lived under the oppression of Democrat rule in so many of these cities.

2:27They forgot what it felt like to actually be free and to be safe. But now for the last 11 days in D.C., people are feeling different and they recognize what America used to be and they want it back permanently. So these Democrat governors, they need to wake up because the people in their communities and in their cities recognize how they've threatened their way of life and they're not going to take it anymore.

2:47Ben Meiselas:Literally the opposite of what's going on there. That's what fascism absolutely looks like. And this is also what fascism looks like. Here is the recent appearance of Stephen Miller. Here, play this clip. president trump has literally set the people of washington dc free they're so happy now they can just go out and live their lives go to their favorite restaurant go to their favorite bar go to the favorite pool hall go to the favorite park you see moms taking kids out to parks they haven't been to in years because they know the police are there they know that president trump is there with his law enforcement to protect them it's a thing of beauty sean This is literally sick people.

3:25Ben Meiselas:I mean, just making stuff up, just completely lying. By the way, if you look in Washington, D.C. now, you've got Donald Trump's poster, Kim Jong-un style up on buildings there. And here's Donald Trump's lies. Here, play this clip. I have to say it's embarrassing. I did this over the weekend. I'm making a speech and I acted like I was so proud. As I said, we've had zero murders in the last week. And some of these people were from foreign countries. They said, that doesn't sound so good. And I said, well, doesn't sound good. But Washington was the most dangerous place in this country. And now, you know what?

4:01It's probably the safest place in our country. Everyone's starting to come here. The restaurants now you can't get in. Many of them closed because they couldn't open with crime.

4:10Ben Meiselas:Let's talk about reality right now. Let's bring in Washington, D.C.'s shadow Senator, Ankit Jain. Let's bring in Washington, D.C. council member from Ward 1, Brianne Nadeau. Let's start with you, shadow Senator Jain from Washington, D.C. What are you seeing there? I show you those clips. You're there. You represent Washington, D.C. in the Senate as the shadow senator. Tell us what's really happening. Yeah, I mean, the president has lied relentlessly about Washington, D.C., and these people lie like they breathe. It's crazy to hear some of the stuff they're saying about Washington, D.C. being set free.

4:47The president was saying that people are going to restaurants more than they ever have. Well, we actually have the data on this. The restaurant reservations are down about 20 percent from the same point this year to last year because people are just scared to go out with all these National Guard troops and federal agents out patrolling the streets. People are like, I don't want to deal with that. I'm just going to stay home. And people who live in Maryland and Virginia suburbs are like, I'm not going to come into D.C. right now with all of this going on. And so it's almost like doublespeak where Stephen Miller says that the president is setting us free by sending in thousands of National Guard troops to essentially occupy D.C.

5:26It's crazy to hear this, and it's unfortunate because it's not true, right? Washington, D.C. is a great city that we encourage everybody to come visit because there's a lot going on here. We have great food. We have great music. We have great art scene. And we, of course, have great monuments and museums and national history. And what is true is that we have crime in D.C., just like any other city in this country. and we have been successfully lowering crime over the past two years where crime is significantly down in D.C. as compared to last year or the year before, even if you compare violent crime to pre-COVID rates.

6:00And so what they're saying about D.C. is not true, and what they are doing is not actually solving any sort of problem. They're sending National Guard troops to the National Mall, to other touristy areas. That is not where the crime is. I was talking to someone who went to visit the National Portrait Gallery the other day. And there were a bunch of National Guard troops out there looking at the exhibits. And she asked one of them, like, what's going on here? And she was told that the National Guard has a lot of unstructured time right now in D.C. And so they let them essentially be tourists in D.C.

6:32So this is not solving the problem. If the president actually wanted to solve the problem, there are many things he could be doing. Many people don't know the federal government has a lot of control over our national, our criminal justice system already. And they refuse to do their duties when it comes to that. We have every single local judge in our local, our court system is nominated by the president, appointed by the Senate. And our local prosecutor for all adult crimes, also nominated by the president, confirmed by the Senate. We have a judicial vacancy crisis in our city because the president will not select nominees from the Judicial Nomination Commission, which has forwarded him names for every opening.

7:10And the Senate will not confirm, which means trials go on longer, which means that evidence gets stale, convictions get lost. We have a U.S. attorney's office that is also facing a judicial, sorry, a vacancy crisis in their office. And that is at least partially because the predecessor to the current U.S. attorney, who is Jeanine Pirro, the president's appointee, the predecessor's name was Ed Martin. He fired over 20 prosecutors. His only crime was prosecuting violent January 6th insurrectionists. And so they won't offer those people their jobs back. I've talked to some of them. They're not getting offered their jobs back.

7:42and they're not appointing more judges. Instead, they're sending National Guard troops to occupy our city and go to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. So it's ridiculous what the president is saying, what Stephen Miller is saying. These people are not here to actually help the people of D.C. They are trying to use the crime problem as a way to seize total control over our city to implement their far-right MAGA agenda in D.C. as a test case for how they can run cities across the rest of the country. And we've got to stop it.

8:09Ben Meiselas:I want to talk about that in a little bit as well, how they're going to be rolling this out to other cities with D.C. as the template. But Council Member Nadeau from Ward 1, what are you seeing? Well, you know, the senator really hit the nail on the head. And when you think about it, the lies that are being told by this administration and all of his talking heads are incredibly egregious. One of the first acts that Trump did as president was pardon the January 6th insurrectionists, putting more criminals on the street in one day than you can even imagine. Right. So that's our starting point here.

8:50Now, when I hear glee around sending military to our cities, I'm asking myself, is that who our country is now? Are we living in a military state? Because as you said in the opening, we are starting to resemble places like North Korea right now with these military actions. And by the way, National Guard is not trained to patrol our streets. The other day, one of their armored vehicles actually collided with a private car and trapped a passenger inside who had to be removed with the jaws of life. And we are seeing federal police all over our streets. So here in Ward 1, which is the most diverse ward in the District of Columbia, largest immigrant population, most racially diverse, people are afraid.

9:45As the senator said, restaurant reservations are actually down. We've seen some restaurants actually close for fear of their own staff being targeted by ICE. ICE has been swarming the streets. This morning, we heard reports of two parents being picked up, taking their kids to school in the morning. They've been in automobile chases that have injured innocent bystanders. They are targeting landscapers. They are targeting handymen. Some of these people who've worked their entire lives here in the District of Columbia have every right to be here in our country. And until recently, we're protected here in the District of Columbia.

10:28That's what we're seeing. People are afraid to go outside. Now, we are also seeing something incredibly inspiring, which I hope other cities will take heart from, which is our citizens are rising up. And that's a long tradition here in the District of Columbia. They're organizing. They're showing up. When they see federal Asians out on the street, they film them. They speak to them. They demand to know what they're doing. They, frankly, they yell at them and they tell them to get out of our neighborhoods because they don't want them here. Because they're not keeping us safer. And the other thing that is really disheartening, as opposed to the spirit of our neighborhoods, is it's really undermining the trust in the police in our communities, which also makes us less safe.

11:22because it used to be that we could trust whichever police were out on the street. We're looking out for our community members. And now we're worried that they're targeting them. Arrests are up. They're charging people with crimes, with illegal searches. I mean, the courts are starting to step up, which is good to see, and throwing out these arrests and charges because of the illegal searches. But I cannot emphasize enough. I mean, this is this is tyranny. I mean, this is a military takeover of our nation's capital. And these are fascist acts. I mean, Americans need to know what is going on and they are not hearing the truth on Fox News.

12:08Ben Meiselas:senator jane back to you talk to us about the latino community we heard there from council member nadu um how people aren't people are afraid to leave some restaurants are not even opening for fear of workers you know being picked up citizens migrants you know if your skin color is brown or if you look latino tell us what you've seen with the ice rage just the overall vibe in Washington, D.C. right now. I mean, you've been there for a while. What are you seeing? And when Trump and the regime says this is the greatest, everyone's happy. I think Trump made a post today saying this is Disneyland.

12:48Ben Meiselas:That was the post he made this morning. This is like Disneyland. What do you say to that? The Latino community is really scared right now. And I understand why. Most of what we've been seeing is essentially an immigration raid. And what they do is they arrest first and they ask questions later. So they'll pick up someone. It doesn't matter if you have documentation or not. If you're Latino and you're doing something that they think is slightly suspicious, they will pick you up, unfortunately. And I'll just give you an example. I talked with someone who full, you know, illegal asylum status, was working as a delivery driver, basically too afraid to even leave his house, has barely left his house in the past two weeks because he's worried that if he does, he'll get picked up by ICE.

13:37And obviously not making any money is really having a hard time making ends meet. And there was a viral video the other day of a Latino delivery driver who was tackled and violently arrested on 14th Street in D.C., which is a pretty popular area of the city. And it turns out that person had full legal status. They had to release him eventually after they figured out he had legal status. But first, he had to be violently assaulted and detained for several hours to days before they were willing to release him. And so people are really scared in the Latino community. I think people across the country don't realize just how vibrant and strong our Latino community is here in D.C.

14:17and how strong our immigrant community is in general. We have the Ethiopian community. We have a lot of other people who are immigrants and who are scared right now. and it is, as Councilmember Nadeau mentioned, what probably the worst part about this is the loss of trust in our local government, in our police with the Latino community where they don't know if they can report a crime anymore because they're worried that if they do, they might get their documentation checked and potentially get arrested. And we are, DC, we have laws restricting how our local police and our local government works with ICE, but the reality is that in this moment with everything that Trump is doing, we don't know what exactly the, how much that law is being enforced and whether it will be enforced in the future.

15:05And so I always encourage people, if you are having an emergency situation, please call 911. But the reality is too many people are scared right now to call 911. And that means that, you know, people who commit crimes go free to commit other crimes. And so it's not just the Latino community who's harmed by this, but it's everybody who needs stronger public safety. And so it is a scary time right now for the Latino community and immigrant community, but for everybody in D.C.

15:30Ben Meiselas:Councilmember Dedeau, when you see these Trump officials go on what to me resembles state regime media right now, like Fox or Newsmax or these other channels, and they say the people in D.C. have never been happier. This is the best it's ever been. This is like Disneyland. You're there in Ward 1, the most diverse ward. What do you say in response to that? These are lies. That is fantasy land. Our residents are angry and our residents are scared of this new federal presence because they do not know what laws the feds are actually following. And at this point, everyone in our community is at risk, just walking around, going about their business, resisting even, pushing back against these acts.

16:27We've got people out there filming. We've got people protesting. We've got people organizing. And everybody's doing that at their own risk because there's no guarantee right now that the First Amendment is being protected by these thugs. and I'm very worried for my residents, but I know that as in the past, when we've been challenged, the people of Washington, D.C. will stick together and will fight for one another regardless of the risk to each other and to ourselves.

16:57Ben Meiselas:All right, final message from you both. Senator Jane, before we go, we've got 6 million subscribers out here. More people now watch this YouTube channel than Fox. What do you want people to know as a takeaway? Yeah. So what the president is doing here is his testing ground for what he's going to try in cities across the country. He starts with D.C. because it's easy, because we're not a state. You know, in no other city does he have, can he so easily take control of the local police force? And so at the end of the day, this will continue to happen to us in Washington, D.C. until we get D.C. statehood.

17:30And this is just making the case even clearer about why we need D.C. statehood and what the real life consequences are to people's lives for us not being a state. You know, people die because we're not a state. But, you know, it starts in D.C. and then if it works here, he's going to go to Chicago. He's going to go to, you know, Detroit. He's going to go to Phoenix. He's going to go to Philadelphia. He's going to go to New York City. He's already, the president has already previewed this, that if he can remake D.C. in line with his MAGA agenda, he's going to try this in cities across this country.

18:02And the good news for us and for people across the country is that we can stop this from happening. So the president has about reached his limit for what he can do unilaterally. And now he has to go through Congress. And Congress can, for example, extend his control of the police force for more than 30 days. Congress can repeal local D.C. laws that they don't like because we're not a state. And that is where the president has already said he's going. He said he's going to ask Congress to take actions. And the good news for us is that it takes 60 votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate and pass any of these laws that he's talking about.

18:39And that means that Senate Democrats can stop any of the further actions that the president is talking about from happening. And so what we need is for Senate Democrats to stand strong with D.C. and say, no, we're not going to be complicit in the president's takeover of Washington, D.C. We're not going to participate in this, not just as an act of charity for the people of D.C. Of course, we hope that they support D.C., but as an essential aspect of protecting their cities and their constituents, because this is coming to a city near them next. And so what I don't want to hear is, you know, 30 days from now, the Congress has passed a law that takes even more rights away from Washingtonians.

19:16And for congressional Democrats to say, well, Trump and the Republicans did this to D.C. If that happens, it'll be Senate Democrats who did this to us. And we have the ability to stop this from happening. And we need to send Democrats to stand strong and make sure that they vote against any of these efforts to participate in the Trump takeover of Washington, D.C.

19:34Ben Meiselas:Council Member Nadeau, your final message. Look, you know, we're used to this here in the District of Columbia. Our autonomy, our very existence is constantly under threat by Congress, by hostile presidents, ever since we got the very bit of autonomy that we had 50 years ago. What people need to understand is in a fascist takeover of a government, there is always a scapegoat, whether that's the Democrats, whether that's cities, whether that's people that don't look like us, whether that's immigrants. Know your history and understand that what is happening right now is something that has happened before in the past.

20:18And this is not just about the District of Columbia. He will be coming for other cities and he will be coming for all of the people that do not bow down before him. the thing that we need help with right now in the district of columbia is for those of you who live in a state where your governor has authorized the national guard to be here that includes west virginia south carolina mississippi louisiana ohio tennessee speak out about that your national guard does not need to be here and has no business being here Um, please speak to your senators and tell them that this takeover of the District of Columbia is not something you support because we don't have those votes in the Senate.

21:12We may be the first, but we will not be the last. He is coming for absolute power and absolute control. And we always knew that this would happen here in the District of Columbia. We need to stop it from happening everywhere else. everybody needs to stand up and see the district of columbia as your own cities as well because

21:36Ben Meiselas:this is a threat to everybody senator jane council member dido appreciate you both please come back on give us an update in the next few weeks what's uh what's going on we appreciate you both thanks for having me happy to do it everybody hit subscribe let's get to 6 million subscribers. Love this video? Support independent media and unlock exclusive content, ad-free videos, and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel today. You can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together.

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