Letter to the President

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to demand an immediate halt to what looks unmistakably like the weaponization of federal forces against American cities for political ends. Sending National Guard troops and other federal personnel into American neighborhoods under the guise of “fighting crime” when local authorities — and the data — don’t support such sweeping action is not protection: it is intimidation. It terrorizes residents, chills dissent, and turns our streets into political theater. 

Reports show deployments have been ordered to several Democratic-run cities even while other places with higher crime rates are not similarly targeted. That pattern raises a grave question: are these moves about public safety — or about punishing cities that didn’t vote the way you wanted? The selective nature of these deployments undermines the rule of law and corrodes the nonpartisan norms that should govern use of federal force.

Worse, state and local leaders — and even the Pentagon — say they were surprised by some of these orders and have challenged them in court. Oregon and other jurisdictions are already suing, arguing the deployments are illegal and unnecessary. You are risking a constitutional crisis and wasting precious public resources to stage a political show.

This is not how a President strengthens public safety. Real crime reduction requires long-term investment in police reform, community policing, social services, and evidence-based strategies — not armored convoys and spectacle. Using armed forces where they are not needed puts ordinary people at risk, undermines trust in government, and makes neighborhoods less safe, not safer.

I demand you do all of the following immediately:

1. Publicly disclose the legal basis and specific, data-driven criteria used to justify each deployment — including crime statistics, threat assessments, and the chain of command that authorized each action.

2. End any deployments that cannot be justified by clear, current, and verifiable public-safety needs.

3. Commit to a nonpartisan review — with independent oversight — of federal rules governing domestic deployments so future use of force cannot be abused as a political tool.

4. Pledge that federal forces will never be used in a manner intended or likely to intimidate voters or punish jurisdictions for their politics.

If you believe these deployments are truly about safety, demonstrate it with transparency and facts. 

If they are about politics, then stop hiding behind the pretense of “law and order.” 

The American people will not accept turning our cities into props for political intimidation. 

Withdraw these forces, respect state sovereignty and the civil liberties of Americans, and restore norms that keep our democracy functioning.