The #Trump admin said on Tuesday that it would begin a wide-ranging review of current & planned exhibitions at the #Smithsonian Institution, scouring wall text, websites & social media “to assess tone, historical framing & alignment with American ideals.”

Trump’s rhetoric “paints a picture that crime is out of control, even when it is not true, then blames the policies of #Democratic lawmakers that are #reform- & #PublicSafety-minded, & then claims that you have to step in & violate people’s rights or demand that reforms be reversed,”Wiley said.

She added that the playbook has special potency in #DC because local law enforcement can be directly placed under #federal #control, a #power #Trump invoked…

“You look at #Chicago, how bad it is. You look at #LosAngeles, how bad it is. We have other cities in a very bad, #NewYork is a problem. And then you have, of course, #Baltimore & #Oakland. We don’t even mention that anymore. They’re so far gone. We’re not going to let it happen,” #Trump said.

#CivilRights advocates see the #rhetoric as part of a broader political strategy.

“It’s a playbook he’s used in the past,” said Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights.

#Trump threatened to “take over” & “beautify” #DC on the campaign trail & claimed it was “a nightmare of murder & crime.” He also argued the #city was “horribly run” & said his team intended “to take it away from the mayor.” Trump on Monday repeated old comments about some of the nation’s largest #cities, including #Baltimore, #Chicago, #LosAngeles, #Oakland & his hometown of #NYC. All are currently run by #Black mayors.

Ronald #Reagan similarly won both his presidential elections after campaigning heavily on law & order politics. Politicians, including former NY Mayor #RudyGiuliani & former President #BillClinton have cited the need to tamp down *crime* as a reason to seize #power from #liberal #cities for decades.

#Republicans have called for greater #police crackdowns in #cities since at least the 1965 #WattsRiots in #LosAngeles.

President Richard #Nixon won the White House in 1968 after campaigning on a “law & order” agenda to appeal to #white voters in northern cities alongside overtures to white Southerners as part of his “#SouthernStrategy.”

#Conservatives have for generations used denigrating #language to describe the *conditions* of major #cities & called for greater law enforcement, often in response to changing #demographics in those cities driven by #nonwhite populations relocating in search of #work or #safety from #RacialDiscrimination & #StateViolence.

“The president foreshadowed that if these heavy-handed tactics take root here, they will be rolled out to other majority-#Black & #Brown #cities, like #Chicago, #Oakland & #Baltimore, across the country,” said Monica Hopkins, executive director of the ACLU’s #DC chapter.

“We’ve seen before how #federal #control of the DC #NationalGuard & #police can lead to #abuse, #intimidation & #CivilRights violations —

…According to White House ofcls, #troops will be deployed to protect federal assets & facilitate a safe environment for law enforcement to make arrests. The #Trump admin believes the highly visible presence of law enforcement will deter violent crime. It is unclear how the admin defines providing a safe environment for law enforcement to conduct arrests, raising alarm bells for some advocates.

As #DC the #NationalGuard arrived at their HQ Tuesday, for many residents, the prospect of #federal #troops surging into neighborhoods represented an alarming violation of #local #agency. To some, it echoes uncomfortable historical chapters when politicians used language to paint historically or predominantly #Black #cities & neighborhoods with #racist narratives to shape public opinion & justify aggressive #police action.

Even as #DC officials questioned the claims underlying his *#emergency declaration*, #Trump promised a “historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam & squalor & worse.” His rhetoric echoed that used by #conservatives going back decades who have denounced #cities, especially those with majority #nonwhite populations or led by #progressives, as lawless or crime-ridden & in need of outside intervention.