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Ward 6 Free DC organizers and Ward 6 co-leaders Anjali and Allegra

Ward Six FreeDC Pushes for Community Involvement

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday night some 200 residents turned out for the Ward 6 FreeDC September meeting in Reformation Lutheran Church a block from the Capitol Grounds on East Capitol Street.  The purpose of the meeting was to update current and prospective FreeDC members on DC home rule and the occupation of DC by federal law enforcement agents and the National Guard.

The focus of the group has continued to evolve in response to changing circumstances.  Initially their goal was to encourage Congress to restore DC’s authority to spend its own revenue by correcting an oversight which dropped that authority from a law which continued spending for agencies whose appropriation bills had not yet been passed.  Since then, the Mayor found ways to work around most of that lack of authority. 

While that was under discussion, there was a movement in Congress to repeal several DC council-passed laws, including laws on police reform, juvenile justice, and local residents’ voting rights. (Those bills and another 11 bills restricting DC Home Rule passed the House Committee on Oversight and Government on Wednesday afternoon.) 

In addition, administration declared a 30 day emergency and moved to takeover DC MPD.  Separately, federal agents including ICE and the National Guard were deployed to DC’s streets.  The emergency action by which the President took over MPD expired Wednesday night and Congress has no plans to renew that authority.  The deployment of federal law enforcement agents including ICE could continue and the National Guard presence in DC could last at least through November given the administration’s extension of the Guard’s activation through December.  

In response to these many developments, Free DC has expanded and organized several of its efforts around resistance to authoritarianism.  The Congress Working Group has been relentless in personal outreach to lobby members of Congress.  (Their other working groups include accessibility, arts and culture, communications, DC local government, popular education, safety, and tabling.) 

FreeDC is working to reach a critical number of residents who are willing to participate in “non-cooperation,” an idea based on what is known as the “3.5% rule’ in political theory.  Research shows that campaigns which engage at least 3.5% of the population in a sustained, nonviolent protest can be successful.  The figure specifically refers to nonviolent resistance because the theory goes, nonviolent movements are more likely to attract and sustain large-scale participation and support.  For DC, that number is 24,500 residents, or 3,100 per ward. 

FreeDC is providing non-cooperation training sessions.  Attendees must attend a FreeDC Orientation session prior to registering.  See Events on FreeDC at https://freedcproject.org/events

There is a Ward Six Orientation Meeting on Sunday, October 5, at 1:00pm, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I Street, SW.  Register here:  https://bit.ly/3IbChvZ  

Since mid-January, when the group’s email list stood at 3,000, it has grown to more than 30,000 today. Sign up for the email list here https://freedcproject.org/  to learn more about upcoming events, actions, and ways to get involved.  (The email list does not necessarily reflect the number of those engaging in non-cooperation.) 

The presentation included emphasis of FreeDC’s Tenets:  Prioritize joy, take up space, i.e., be seen and heard, and organize.

Free DC’s Code of Conduct includes:  Respect everyone, refrain from hate speech, provide constructive feedback, and encourage participation.