To the editor:

Trump is deploying National Guard troops to D.C. and West Virginia (red) and South Carolina (red) have announced they are sending National Guard troops to D.C. as well. Trump has singled out Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities in blue states ignoring the crime rates in red states as justification for this action.

Here’s the facts. Nine of the top 15 cities for violent crime are in red states. Memphis, St. Louis, Birmingham, Kansas City, Cleveland, Little Rock, New Orleans, Toledo, and Dayton all make this list. New Mexico (blue) has the highest violent crime rate in the nation. Vermont (blue) has the lowest. Louisiana (red) has the nation’s highest murder rate. Maine (blue) emerges as the safest state. The South accounts for some of the highest violent crime rates, including Louisiana (red), Tennessee (red), Arkansas (red), and South Carolina (red). Alaska (red) maintains the highest aggravated assault rate.

Trump is attacking cities run by Democrats while ignoring Republican run cities and states with higher crime rates. The reason for this is simple. He is attacking mostly black and brown communities because he is an authoritarian fascist who will do anything to maintain his grip on power. American democracy will never be destroyed by a foreign enemy; if we fail as a democracy, it will be due to attack from within by a domestic enemy.

I swore an oath to defend and protect America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, during my 24-year military career and I have never forgotten or abandoned those words. I am a U.S. Navy retiree, I am a patriot, and I love my country. None of these things are mutually exclusive to one political party or ideology. If you believe in freedom and Democracy, you must resist this attack on America from within. The greatest tyranny is that which is carried out under the shield of law and in the name of justice while being totally lawless and unjust. Supporting a president when you know he is a tyrant is not only unpatriotic it is un-American and morally treasonable to the American public.

David Nelson

Hutchinson