President Donald Trump’s series of interventions in Washington D.C. has led to a unified local resistance under the banner of “Free DC.” This slogan, which has historical roots in the city’s long struggle for self-governance, has been adopted by a new activist group formed this year. The group’s mission is to counter the president’s attempts to interfere in the capital’s affairs, which they argue is a threat not only to D.C. residents but to American democracy as a whole.
Keya Chatterjee, the executive director of Free DC, emphasizes that the capital’s unique vulnerability makes the fight for its rights a matter of national and even global significance. Per The Guardian, she stated, “You have to be able to have dissent in the capital in order to curb authoritarianism. You have to be able to do that and because we are uniquely vulnerable, it is a danger to everyone in this country, and therefore everyone in the world, that we don’t have equal rights under the law.”
