JD Vance Heckled While Visiting Troops Stationed In DC [View all]

Source: Huff Post

Aug 20, 2025, 12:50 PM EDT | Updated an hour ago


WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller visited with National Guard troops at Shake Shack in Union Station on Wednesday. “Free D.C.” and pro-Palestinian activists heckled Vance loudly as he entered the restaurant, where he thanked the National Guard soldiers for their work. “We appreciate everything that you’re doing,” Vance said. “You guys bust your ass all day, we give you a hamburger. Not a fair trade, but we’re grateful for everything you guys do.”

President Donald Trump took over the local police and deployed troops in Washington in response to a supposed “crime emergency,” despite D.C. police data suggesting crime has fallen in recent years. The protesters remained audible even inside the restaurant, according to a video feed from the Defense Department. “It’s bizarre that we have a bunch of old, primarily white people out there protesting the policies that keep people safe when they’ve never felt danger in their entire lives,” Vance said.

Outside the building, law enforcement mounted an overwhelming show of force. Dozens of National Guard troops and enormous armored vehicles, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, U.S. marshals, Capitol Police officers, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police, Amtrak police, and Secret Service agents stood guard as gawking visitors got in and out of Uber cars and tourists boarded double-decker sightseeing buses.

Nan Raphael, a D.C. resident and veteran who showed up to protest Trump’s takeover of the district, said she feared other states were next. “If the capital goes down, so does the rest of the country. That’s how authoritarian regimes work. So we have to keep our city free,” she told HuffPost.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-heckled-dc-military_n_68a5fb97e4b08e59891eaa82

Link to tweet