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A video captured protesters in Washington, D.C., yelling at police officers to “get off our streets!” as law enforcement set up a checkpoint along a popular nightlife corridor in the nation’s capital.
The tense scenes unfolded late Wednesday night along 14th Street Northwest just days after President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police in an effort to crack down on crime.
“Why are you here? You are trying to arrest innocent people? What’s your purpose? What’s your goal? What’s the motive? Why won’t you show your face? Do you look yourself in the mirror and think ‘I did a good job today’?” one protester was heard yelling at officers.
Others were heard urging drivers to “turn left” to avoid the checkpoint.
A person is seen being stopped at a checkpoint along 14th Street in northwest Washington, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP/Alex Brandon)
Elsewhere around the city, Drug Enforcement Administration officers were seen on the National Mall, while National Guard members were parked nearby, the Associated Press reported.
DEA agents joined Metropolitan Police Department officers on patrol in the Navy Yard neighborhood, while FBI agents stood along the heavily trafficked Massachusetts Avenue.
Hundreds of federal law enforcement and city police officers who patrolled the streets Tuesday night made 43 arrests, compared with about two dozen the night before.
D.C. residents are seen yelling at law enforcement members who were standing at the police checkpoint on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. (AP/Jose Luis Magana)
Trump announced Monday that he was federalizing the local police department under section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which allows the president to assume emergency control of the capital’s police force for 30 days.
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
