Federal forces in D.C. schools spark safety concerns

District families are gearing up for a new school year at a time when hundreds of federal law enforcement agents and National Guard troops from red states have descended upon the nation’s capital , occupying marginalized communities and, as many have reported, targeting young people and immigrants.

For D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE) Representative LaJoy Johnson-Law, the current situation raises the question of what District youth can do to avoid confrontations with, not only the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), but the litany of federal forces, many of whom are covering their faces as they engage community members.

“We need our kids really listening because this is a life-or-death situation,” said Johnson-Law, a mother and Ward 8 SBOE representative. “This is a state of emer