National Guard troops and federal agents can no longer stage on school or recreation center grounds in Northeast D.C.'s Trinidad neighborhood after parents and advocates pressured city officials to act.

Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker announced the restriction Wednesday, Aug. 26, at a rally outside Wheatley Education Campus where parents, teachers and neighbors gathered to protest the military presence near the school.

"I am glad to say we won that battle," Parker told WUSA9. "Troops are no longer allowed on our school grounds and rec center grounds, but obviously we still have troops in and around D.C."

The rally followed reports that uniformed personnel had been spotted in Wheatley's parking lot the prior week. Teachers were inside preparing classrooms for back-to-school at the time, though students had not yet returned.

Keya Chatterjee, executive director of Free DC, the advocacy group that organized the protest, said the National Guard, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI had all staged in the school's parking lot. WUSA9 reporters at the scene observed protesters chanting "Guard out now" as a black van carrying Guard members drove past the campus.

WUSA9 reported that it reached out to the Joint Task Force in D.C. for comment on why troops were near the school but did not receive a response.

Guard focused on Trinidad, Anacostia

Brig. Gen. Leland D. Blanchard II, interim commander of the D.C. National Guard, said earlier in August that the Guard is focusing its presence in the Trinidad and Anacostia neighborhoods as a coordinated effort with D.C. Police to deter crime.

Chatterjee pushed back on that rationale, noting this is the second consecutive school year in which armed troops patrol D.C. streets as students walk to school.

An estimated 4,600 troops were deployed in the District as of Aug. 26. President Trump has extended the deployment through January 2029. The force started at roughly 800 troops in August 2025 and has grown more than five-fold, according to NPR.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the deployment costs about $600 per Guard member per day. The Pentagon told Congress the extension through 2029 will cost an additional $1.4 billion. Two independent studies, by the Niskanen Center and the Center for American Progress, found the deployment has had little to no measurable effect on violent crime, according to the Georgetowner.

All Guard members in D.C. have been deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, granting them authority to detain people but not to make independent arrests.

Parker, who chairs the D.C. Council's Committee on Youth Affairs, said on his official council account that he joined parents, teachers, students and advocates at Wheatley to press for the troops' removal. The deployment itself continues with no scheduled end before January 2029.