The African American Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the occupation of Washington DC by Trump in his deployment of the National Guard and federal police to DC’s streets. Trump, at the press conference announcing his decision Monday, evoked Section 740 of the DC Home Rule Act, which allows for the federal government to take direct control of the DC Metro Police. Trump in his press conference talked about giving DC police the power to do “whatever the hell they want.”

Reactionary forces are rallying to enable police violence and to undermine the accountability that has been hard won through struggle. Minnesota authorities are now appealing for calm if Trump decides to pardon Derek Chauvin, the convicted murderer of George Floyd.

The idea of a federal pardon for Chauvin, whose conviction was only secured after millions flooded the streets in 2020, would spit in the face of the movement that forced a reckoning with police crimes. All those who stand for justice and believe Black lives matter should be on alert. If it happens, this pardon must be met with mass resistance.