Source: Common Dreams
by John Marks
“‘We’ve seen encampments cleared, phones tapped, and permits held up—but this? This feels like they’re preparing for war,’ said Marisol Jennings, a D.C.-based organizer who has coordinated protests since 2017. Just days before thousands of Americans are expected to gather in Washington, D.C. to protest the Trump administration’s policies, a sweeping new executive order threatens to transform the nation’s capital into a showcase for authoritarian policing. Signed on March 27, the order—Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful—appears less concerned with beautification than with containment. Its provisions call for surging federal law enforcement, accelerating immigration crackdowns, and strictly enforcing vague ‘quality-of-life’ directives for the city. And its timing, just a week before what organizers are calling the most consequential day of protest since President Donald Trump’s return to office, is raising alarm from civil rights lawyers, city officials, and veteran demonstrators.” (04/03/25)