By Tavon N. Thomasson
Special to the AFRO
tthomasson@afro.com
At a Sept. 5 press conference outside St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Park Heights, Gov. Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott denounced President Donald Trump’s plan to send the National Guard to Baltimore.
Trump’s Sept. 2 declaration that he was prepared to send federal forces into Baltimore drew swift criticism from Maryland leaders, who dismissed the proposal as unnecessary. By Sept. 5 that rejection was on full display in Park Heights, where Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott stood in the church parking lot, flanked by police officials and rows of neighborhood advocates, to underscore their opposition.
“We do not need an occupation and we do not need people putting in performative and theatrical resources,” Gov. Moore said during the press conference. “If you want to learn what works, come spend time and learn what we need.”
Mayor Scott, who grew up in Park Heights, echoed the message, urging for investment in people rather than militarization.
“We do not need troops on our streets, but we do need folks who want to be at the table to recognize that people in Baltimore are humans,” Scott said during the press conference. “Our young people aren’t born to be criminals. They are a resource to invest in, not a problem to solve.”
Trump has long portrayed Baltimore as a city plagued by crime — once calling it a “hellhole” — and has argued the National Guard is needed to restore order. Gov. Moore and Mayor Scott pushed back, pointing instead to historic progress. They noted the city recently recorded its lowest homicide numbers in more than 50 years.
In a Sept. 1 press release, the mayor’s office reported that Baltimore has recorded 91 homicides and 218 non-fatal shootings in 2025, marking a 29.5 percent drop in killings and a 21 percent decline in shootings compared with the same period last year.
The 91 homicides through August represent the fewest in the first eight months of any year in more than 50 years. August closed with just seven homicides, a historic low for a month that has long been one of Baltimore’s deadliest.
Scott credited years of partnership between city agencies, grassroots organizations and state leaders for the turnaround.
“None of us are celebrating and saying that we solved gun violence,” Scott said during the press conference. “What we are saying is that we, as a collective, [are] in the best position that we have been in 50 years.”
Police Commissioner Richard Worley followed, emphasizing that lasting progress requires more than just policing and must involve community trust and collaboration.
“We know law enforcement alone is not enough, and it never has been. It never will be,” Worley said during the press conference. “That’s why our partners at MONSE, We Are Us, Roca, and most importantly our community leaders are helping us rebuild trust and create a stronger Baltimore.”
In addition to decrying the president’s misrepresentation of crime in Charm City, Moore, a U.S. Army veteran, took particular offense at how the National Guard is being used by the White House.
“These are people who live in communities. These are people who have families, and we’re asking them to deploy to do things that are performative?” the governor said during the press conference. “That is so deeply disrespectful to them. It’s so deeply disrespectful to the American taxpayer.”
Experts estimate the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C., is draining about $1 million in taxpayer dollars each day.
Arnetta Shelton, who works with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, said federal resources would be better used through genuine collaboration with local leaders rather than imposed from the outside.
“What we do need is more collaboration. We need him down on the ground. We need his partnership — not just throwing resources to what he thinks works for Baltimore,” said Shelton.
In the end, everyone who spoke in the church parking lot sang the same refrain: Baltimore is turning a corner, and the work of city agencies, grassroots groups and residents is paying off. If Washington wants to help, they said, it should build on that momentum, not undermine it with an unwanted occupation.
As Gov. Moore said in his press conference: “We will work with anybody, but we will bow down to nobody.”