CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey has co-led an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia supporting the President’s decision to deploy National Guard troops to Washington, D.C.
The filing comes in response to a lawsuit by the D.C. Attorney General seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the deployment. The brief argues that the presence of the National Guard has helped improve public safety in the capital.
According to data cited in the filing, since troops from West Virginia and several other states arrived, crime in D.C. has sharply declined.
As of August 20, 2025, nine days after the deployment began, the city had gone seven days without a homicide.
Reported carjackings decreased by 83%, robberies by 46%, car thefts by 21%, and overall violent crime by 22%. Officials also reported more than 200 illegal firearms had been recovered. The filing notes that D.C.’s Democratic mayor acknowledged the decline in crime and expressed appreciation.
“The President has the authority, and the duty, to protect our nation’s capital. The lawlessness in Washington, D.C., the result of years of soft-on-crime policies, was putting our nation at risk and finally, we have a President willing to step up to secure it,” Attorney General McCuskey said.
“We are so immensely proud of the work of our National Guard members who have answered the call to restore law and order to D.C. Their deployment is working. But instead of being part of the solution and on the side of safety, this lawsuit is pure misguided political resistance to President Trump.”
The brief contends that the President’s deployment of the National Guard does not infringe on the District’s sovereignty.
“His action accords with over two centuries of constitutional tradition that the federal government has responsibility for our capital. America cannot succeed and thrive when the Seat of Government is not safe, and so protecting D.C. is one of President Trump’s most important duties under Article II,” the brief argues.
In addition to West Virginia and South Carolina, 20 other states joined the filing, including Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
