Tag Archives: Washington DC

The Washington Post reports: The crowds that typically flow into the District on Independence Day to line the streets for a parade or to get a prime spot on the Mall to see the fireworks were markedly thinner this year. Dan Stessel, a Metro spokesman, said that as of 9 p.m., there were 34,000 trips taken on Metrorail for Saturday, …

The Associated Press reports: The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets. Defense documents obtained by the AP show some were not trained in …

Politico reports: Unlike last year, the July Fourth celebration will not include static displays on the mall of military ground equipment such as Bradley fighting vehicles, the two defense officials said. It was not immediately clear why the administration decided to eliminate the static displays this year, but their exclusion will likely reduce cost and crowds on the national mall. …

CNN reports: House Democrats approved a bill to admit Washington, DC, as a state on Friday, marking the first time either chamber of Congress has advanced a DC statehood measure. The bill, introduced by DC’s nonvoting House member, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, would shrink the federal capital to a small area encompassing the White House, Capitol building, Supreme Court, and …

The Washington Post reports: House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) has chosen June 26 to hold the first floor vote in a generation on D.C. statehood, hoping to harness a national reckoning on race and capitalize on widespread outrage over the federal response to street protests in the nation’s capital. Officials expect legislation making the District the 51st state …

From a statement by Rep. Steny Hoyer: “President Trump’s behavior in the District of Columbia in recent days, as well as his threats to impose his dangerous and callous will on a city about which he has proven again and again he has no understanding of, has underscored in dramatic terms the urgency of giving the District the same constitutional …

Utah’s Deseret News reports: Sen. Mitt Romney marched in a faith-based demonstration in Washington, D.C. on Sunday organized by local pastors to protest the death of George Floyd. “We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality. And we need to stand up and say that black lives matter,” Romney told a reporter at …

Politico reports: President Trump on Friday sharply rebuked Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), calling her “incompetent” after she demanded he withdraw military personnel and federal law enforcement from the district amid ongoing protests against the police killing of George Floyd. The administration has withstood scrutiny after law enforcement forcefully cleared peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square on Monday before Trump …

The Hill reports: Washington, D.C., is painting large yellow letters spelling out “Black Lives Matter” on a major road leading to the White House Friday. The letters span two blocks of 16th Street NW in the nation’s capital and take up the width of the two-lane road. Painters started on the project early Friday morning after being contacted by Washington, …

Axios reports: Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser formally requested in a letter dated Thursday that President Trump remove “all extraordinary federal law enforcement and military presence” in place due to the protests over the killing of George Floyd from the city. The big picture: Tensions between protesters and law enforcement in the capital have died down this week, with the …

Somebody really wants to keep his job: In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region, amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy told The Associated Press that the reversal …

The Associated Press reports: Active-duty troops brought in to help if needed with the civil unrest in the nation’s capitol are beginning to return to their home base, after two days of more peaceful demonstrations in Washington, D.C., senior defense officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The active-duty troops were available, but were not used in response to the …

NBC News reports: District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that she is putting the nation’s capital under an earlier curfew Monday night, moving the start time to 7 p.m. ET from 11 p.m. ET as it had been on Sunday. “Tonight, I’m ordering another curfew in Washington, D.C. We want your voices to be heard, but we also want …

The Hill reports: Firefighters in Washington, D.C. responded to numerous blazes set intentionally by protesters in the city Sunday evening as protests over the death of George Floyd in police custody moved into their sixth day nationwide. Multiple news outlets reported that a fire erupted at historic St. John’s Church, a landmark where presidents have attended services since the 1800s, …

NBC News reports: Protesters on Saturday afternoon converged at the White House and pushed security barricades farther down Pennsylvania Avenue, in one of many new protests to emerge around the country during the day Saturday — only hours after violent demonstrations rocked cities coast to coast on Friday night. At the White House, protesters could be seen standing on top …

The Washington Post reports: Several hundred people gathered outside the White House in two successive tense and confrontational demonstrations occurring hours apart on Friday, both of them protesting the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck. The demonstration had showed no signs of slowing as crowds continued to face off …

The Washington Post reports: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) is expected Wednesday to announce the gradual reopening of the capital, saying the city has been meeting key thresholds to contain new coronavirus infections. Hospitals have been running below their maximum capacity, testing is on the rise and the city is in the process of hiring enough contact tracers to …

NBC News reports: White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx said Friday that the Washington, D.C., metro area currently has the highest COVID-19 positivity rate out of all cities across the country. Birx said that the D.C. metro area, which includes Northern Virginia and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, currently leads the country in the percentage of …

The Washington Post reports: D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) extended the city’s stay-at-home order, mass gathering ban and closure of nonessential businesses through June 8, saying infections have not declined enough to start reopening the capital. The social distancing measures were set to expire Friday. New cases have started to decline over the past several days, but officials want …

The Washington Blade reports: The DC Eagle, the District’s oldest continuously operating gay bar that first opened in 1971, informed its employees Monday night in an online meeting that it was going out of business after learning the building it rented was sold and it would have to move out by September, according to Eagle manager Miguel Ayala. Ayala, who …