WASHINGTON – In the neighborhood where Washington saw the first murder almost two weeks before Tuesday, residents are split into the city, split into the value of President Donald Trump's federal law enforcement squadrons.
NBC News spoke with more than 12 people on Tuesday who live and work in the area surrounding the 300 block of Anacostia Road in Southeast DC. This was the first murder reported in DC since August 13th.
On Tuesday afternoon, half a dozen children fell on the front line stairs of a block apartment where the filming took place after school came out that day.
Local responses to Trump's “federal takeover” of D.C. are mixed, with some people celebrating him as an active interest in the city's public safety, while others criticising him for explaining they were unnecessary or aiming for the wrong part of the city.
“I really have no problem with the presence of police,” said Brian Williams, 56, who reported seeing the National Guard, the FBI and local police in the neighborhood. “It's something that's very necessary in certain areas of the district. You don't need all of them, but you need some of them.”
But Williams added, “We don't see what we need, there is no presence there.”
Some residents said the Washington Postmap of such sightings, issued on August 15, showed much heavier presence in the wealthy, tourist trafficked ward west of the Anacostia River, saying they have never seen any of the neighbouring National Guard or federal agents.
Trump bragged on Monday that “it's been years since I went for a week without murder.” (D.C. won 16 days in a row earlier this year.) National Guard forces began arriving in DC on August 12th in response to Trump's declaration of a “crime emergency” in the country's capital.
Federal agents focus on arresting violent offenders, including drug dealers, rather than patrol the neighborhood, according to White House officials.
“Thanks to President Trump's bold actions, federal and local officers are traveling to high crime areas across Washington, D.C., to stop dangerous offenders,” said White House spokesman Taylor Rogers. “In fact, the violent crimes that plague urban communities are why President Trump is cracking down on crime and restoring law and order. The Trump administration will not rest until DC is the safest city in the country.”
Most of the neighbors surrounding Tuesday's shooting refused to give them their full name out of fear of retaliation. Several people said they saw police on the road in Anacostia after the murder.
A 77-year-old man who identified himself as Ray said police would show up “only when something like that happens.” He said he hasn't seen much change in the weeks since Trump's policies came into effect.
“I won't ruin anyone,” he said. “I talk to (people), they talk to me, then I go home.”
For some residents, the increased presence of law enforcement has the opposite consequences for creating fear and anxiety among people who have not committed crimes.
“When I saw the police presence, I felt threatened across the street in this neighborhood,” fans said.
Juan, who identified himself as a member of the LGBTQ community, said he saw sporadically the presence of the federal people, including immigration and customs enforcement agents. He opposes its existence.
“Don't come to the neighborhood where people live, don't go and harass Hispanic people on their way home from work,” he said. “Because you are targeting citizens, you are targeting law-abiding citizens who are taxpayers, workers, and citizens of the community.
The woman who worked in the area around filming Tuesday morning but named her as Israel, who lives in the river turn section of the city on the west side of the Anacostia River, said she was pleased with the federal stacking ordered by Trump.
“I'm not mad at him,” she said. “People are scared to come outside. Your kids can't play outside.”
Israel added that it hopes the juvenile is prosecuted as an adult to stop the crime.
“Now they're slapping their wrists,” she said. “They need to get more sentences, like adults… They need to be locked up.
Trump on Monday is so pleased with the results of DC, and hopes to expand the program to other cities, including Chicago, featuring federal agents focused on the presence of local law enforcement and the National Guard.
“There are no crimes in Chicago, just as there are no crimes in DC within a week,” he told reporters Monday. On Tuesday, White House officials said they have made 1,094 arrests in the country's capital since federal agents ordered numbers on August 7th, including numbers that include 87 arrests.
Williams, who had a can of icehouse beer when covered in front of an apartment between 37th Avenue and Anacostia Road, said it is in parts of the city, particularly in the city's 8th district, where increasing law enforcement is more effective.
He acknowledged that the visibility of local and federal authorities changed the behavior of his neighborhood, but he wondered how long it would last.
“I've seen the difference. At night, I don't see as many people as I used to be, because I know that existence is here,” he said. “But, like, what happens when they leave?”