Far-left agitators clash with National Guard troops in DC as protesters march against Trump crime crackdown

Protesters carried signs in English and Spanish reading “No ICE! No National Guard!”, “DC Says Stop the Military Takeover,” and “Resist Fascism.” Chants of “Trump must go now!” were heard through the crowd as marchers criticized the administration’s move to crack down on rampant crime with the federalization of law enforcement.

Video showed agitators shouting at National Guard troops as police pushed through the crowd to form a barrier between them and law enforcement. The demonstration began at Dupont Circle before moving toward the National Mall, where traffic along Constitution Avenue was shut down.

Outside the White House, a smaller group of demonstrators was also present. Included among the protesters was a 68-year-old retired foreign service officer who held a sign declaring she was “proud to protest a police state,” according to the New York Times.

Not all in attendance opposed the president. A group of Trump supporters was seen outside the Lincoln Memorial with a large banner that read “Trump Won Trifecta,” footage from Freedom News TV showed.

The protests came in direct response to the administration’s takeover of DC’s police force and the deployment of troops, which Trump has said is necessary to combat high rates of crime.

“We’re going to take our capital back,” Trump said last week.

“You want to be able to leave your apartment or your house where you live and feel safe and go into a store to buy a newspaper or buy something, and you don't have that now,” the president added. “The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on earth, much higher.”