Hundreds of National Guard troops from Republican-led states are being sent to Washington, D.C., after governors from West Virginia, South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee approved deployments that bring the total force to more than 1,100 soldiers. Officials say the mission involves patrols, monument security, and crowd control, though local leaders, including Mayor Muriel Bowser, argue the move is unnecessary since violent crime is at historic lows. Critics see the escalation as a political maneuver by the Trump administration, which recently declared a “crime emergency” in the capital, while lawsuits challenge the legality of the federal takeover of local policing.