As National Guard troops descend on Los Angeles under President Donald Trump’s orders, Black residents in Washington, D.C., are watching a familiar scenario unfold — one that began in their own streets.

In June 2020, Trump deployed federal forces to the nation’s capital without local approval, ordering the violent removal of peaceful demonstrators — many of them Black — protesting the police killing of George Floyd.

Now, Trump has bypassed Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom to send 2,000 troops into L.A., where immigration raids and community protests have sparked federal intervention.

For Black Washingtonians who live in a city without the protection of a state government, the federal crackdown on protest in L.A. is not just distant news — it’s a renewed warning of what can happen

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