Washington DC—Sixty seven years ago Veteran Michael Marceau was a combat infantryman in Vietnam when the unthinkable happened. He was wounded by enemy fire. Then, after what seemed like hours but was actually only minutes, a helicopter ‘dust-off’ took him to safety and so began the next chapter of his life: his long recovery from his combat wounds. He doesn’t speak much about the details of it. The Vietnam War took a heavy toll on him. And many of his comrades did not return. So he has committed himself to peace and is a member of the DC Chapter of Veterans for Peace.
At this late stage in his life most of his years are behind him but that doesn’t mean he can’t use the time he has to make life better for others by speaking of the costs of war. And now DC is in a strange new war much different from the battles he saw in the jungles of Southeast Asia. This is a battle an authoritarian machine chose to wage on its own citizens, rolling through the streets, chewing up rights and disappearing hundreds in its wake. This is what any war does, it chews up everything and everything around it and moves on.
The declaration of a “crime emergency” and the federal activation of the DC Army National Guard to DC streets was not anything Marceau imagined he’d have to resist in his lifetime. At least not here in DC. Wars are always fought ‘over there.’ But for someone who experienced war, he understands military conflict, and knows its truths and consequences, and the abuse of military power has devastating consequences, mostly on the innocents affected. And though the war on DC has hit him hard personally, he has decided to be in the middle it anyway on a hot day. Although he’s nearly into his 80s, he’s taking his stand the only way he can.
He walked around the khaki covered Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) military vehicles at Union Station on Saturday with a sign over hung his shoulders. It read “ICE, National Guard, DEA Get Out of Our House,” reflecting the collective feeling DC citizens have towards the police state DC has become.
The three MRAPs parked outside are quite imposing when one stands next to them. They don’t appear to be outfitted with machine guns or live ammunition and the sergeants nearby are friendly and engaged the public professionally when approached, but they were not tasked to reach out to the public like public affairs officers. They are here to show power. They are here to tell the public they have been to war and aren’t afraid to fight another one. They are here to impose fear.
On the second sign hung over Marceau’s back reads “ICE, NG, DEA, Find the Epstein Files,”in effect meaning its what police should be doing: fighting real crime, not harassing citizens trying to go to work and earn a living.
He pointed out his belief that the actions taken by Trump came on the heels of Epsteingate and were a distraction from it. The files held at the Department of Justice reportedly have Trump’s name repeated throughout their pages. The full extent of his involvement with convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is not yet publicly known. But some of the documents released on the New York Times website indicated a more close friendship between Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in earlier years than Trump previously admitted. And this was evidenced by a racy personal letter Trump wrote to Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003, long after Trump claimed to have had completed dealings with him.
Marceau believes, as do others, that the timing of the deployment of police agencies and the mobilization of the National Guard to DC was designed to shift news coverage from the embarrassing spectacle that swirled around Trump and threatened to completely turn the MAGA base against him. Indeed many MAGA had become enraged when Trump demurred on releasing the Epsteingate files because releasing the files and exposing the names therein was a major campaign promise he repeated over and over again.
Then there’s the issue of the Posse Comitaus Act, and the real wrong Marceau said is being waged against 700,000 DC residents. DC residents already have no voice in their legislature. They also pay some of the highest local taxes than any city in the U.S. And it’s these issues Marceau really takes to heart.
The 147 year-old Posse Comitatus Act was passed into law to prevent the government from using the power of the military to enforce domestic laws and civil statutes unless there was an extreme emergency. Marceau said flat out there was no emergency and DC streets were as safe as they had been in many years. Statistics published on the DC Attorney’s website bear out that crime was at its lowest point in 30 years.
This also belies a hidden question. If police agencies and the National Guard are being diverted to fight crime where it is at its lowest point in three decades, what effect will it have on the areas where was diverted from?
The deployment of DC National Guard troops to DC streets up to this point has been largely symbolic and the handful of troops guarding the heavily armored vehicles were unarmed but they did wear black camera recorders and they were videotaping everyone who spoke to them. This is as close to law enforcement as any military policeman can get without carrying an M-16 or a LAW. Incidentally the Soldiers staffing the MWRAP vehicles are military policemen of the DC Army National Guard.
Marceau was matter of fact when speaking about the takeover and deployment of federal police agencies and feels it’s an abuse of power against citizens who have done nothing wrong. “The biggest criminal in Washington DC lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and that is the White House,” he said dryly. The history of this president’s conduct bears this truth out as well.
Marceau is obviously proud of his military service but not proud of the way his country is being led. He wears the medals and decorations he earned in Vietnam on his cap. It is his testament to courage he carries with him although he will never say it out loud.
Now, just being inside the nation’s capital is tense. Fewer tourists are visiting and that will take a significant hit on the local economy since tourism is one of Washington DCs biggest revenue drivers. The restaurants are also nearly vacant at night because few want to be out among the hundreds of police deployed. That means hotel bookings are also being hurt. Given the publicity of mass police deployments and ICE roundups, who would want to visit or dine out here?
But everywhere citizens are seeing the wrongfulness of the police agency and National Guard deployments. DC citizens are standing up and challenging authorities wherever they show up to grab people off the streets.
Marceau was by himself on Saturday afternoon at Union Station. But he is one of many citizens showing up to verbally challenge the authorities wherever they go. And the citizens are going to need all the courage they can carry because the battle for DC is going to be a tough one.
