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IS DC CRIME DROP REALLY DUE TO TRUMP AND NATIONAL GUARD?
A Beam investigation — republication package
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By Jazzmin Sutherland
Originally published by The Beam, October 23, 2026
Canonical URL: https://thebeam.org/trump-national-guard-dc-crime/

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WHAT'S IN THIS PACKAGE
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1. 01_README-dc_guard_crime_20261023.txt
   This file.

2. dc_guard_crime_20261023-article.rtf
   The full article text. Open in Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google
   Docs. Copy and paste the body into your CMS as you would any wire story.
   Keep the headline, byline, and excerpt intact. Bracketed markers like
   [CHART EMBED 1 — ... — goes here] and [PHOTO 1 (lead) — ... — goes here]
   show where the chart and each photo belong. Each photo marker is followed
   by a "Caption:" line — move that text into your CMS's image caption
   field. Delete all markers whether or not you use the chart or photos.

3. dc_guard_crime_20261023-chart_embed.txt
   Embed code for one interactive line chart, "Violent crime rates declined
   for years," comparing violent crime rate trends in D.C. and other large
   U.S. cities. Hosted by The Beam. Includes an optional auto-resize script.

4. photos/
   Three photos used with the story, all U.S. Army National Guard photos:
     dc_guard_photo1_lead_washington_monument.jpg  — lead/featured image
     dc_guard_photo2_wwii_memorial.jpg             — in-body photo (optional)
     dc_guard_photo3_national_mall.jpg             — in-body photo (optional)
   Captions and credits are in the .rtf at each photo marker and listed
   under PHOTO NOTES below. Keep the photographer credit with each photo.


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HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER
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A typical republished version looks like this, top to bottom:

  Headline:    Is DC crime drop really due to Trump and National Guard?
  Dek:         President Trump credits the National Guard for D.C.'s crime
               drop, but data shows declines began earlier and also
               occurred in cities without troops.
  Byline:      Jazzmin Sutherland / The Beam
  Lead photo:  photo1 (Guard members, Washington Monument behind), with
               caption.
  Body:        Article text from the .rtf
  Photo 2:     (optional) photo2 (Guard members at the WWII Memorial),
               placed after the paragraph ending "...to 'rescue our
               nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and
               squalor.'"
  Photo 3:     (optional) photo3 (Florida Guard members at a National Mall
               crosswalk), placed in the "'Visibility'" section after the
               paragraph ending "...troops are deployed 'across all eight
               wards of the District.'"
  Embedded 1:  "Violent crime rates declined for years" chart, placed in
               the "Complicated picture" section after the paragraph
               "But with crime continuing to ease, critics say the case for
               an ongoing military presence is getting weaker."
  Footer:      Contributor line ("Evan Wyloge, a data journalist for The
               Beam, contributed to this story.") followed by the required
               attribution line — see below.


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REQUIRED ATTRIBUTION
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Use this credit line at the top of the byline area, the bottom of the
article, or both:

   This story was originally published by The Beam on October 23, 2026. Reused with permission.

Please link "The Beam" to https://thebeam.org/ and, where space allows, the
canonical article URL above.


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EMBED NOTES
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- The chart is a single <iframe>. Paste it into one Custom HTML / Raw HTML
  / Embed block. Copy it exactly as provided.
- If you also use the optional auto-resize script, paste it in the SAME
  block, directly after the iframe — do not split them across two CMS
  blocks. The script self-deduplicates, so it is safe even if your page has
  other Beam embeds.
- WordPress.com (free tier) and some locked-down corporate CMSs strip
  <script> tags. On those sites, skip the script: the iframe will still
  display correctly at its fixed 530px height, which is sized to fit on most
  screens — no manual adjustment is required.
- The chart is hosted by The Beam and referenced by URL — you do not need to
  host any files.


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PHOTO NOTES
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Photo 1 (lead): Members of the Mississippi National Guard assigned to Joint
Task Force-D.C. patrol the National World War II Memorial, Sept. 13, 2026 in
Washington. (Photo by Sgt. Carlos Parra)

Photo 2: Members of the Mississippi National Guard deployed in Washington,
D.C., patrol the National World War II Memorial, Sept. 13, 2026. (U.S. Army
National Guard photo by Sgt. Carlos Parra)

Photo 3: U.S. Army 1st Lt. David Espinosa, Spc. Erick Hebert and Spc. An
Nguyen, all with the Florida National Guard, assigned to Joint Task
Force-District of Columbia (JTF-DC) in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful
mission, conduct security at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Aug.
28, 2026. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Katlynn Pickle)


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QUESTIONS / SOURCE DATA
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Mark Greenblatt - mark.greenblatt@asu.edu
Lauren Mucciolo - lauren.mucciolo@asu.edu

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