One of the most visible figures opposing President Trump’s plan to federalize Washington, D.C.’s police force is no stranger to anti-law enforcement rhetoric. Nee Nee Taylor, co-founder of Free DC and executive director of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, has a long track record of demanding the defunding and outright abolition of police, ICE, and the prison system.
Taylor took to the streets Monday, rallying protesters after Trump announced he would send federal resources to curb violent crime in the nation’s capital. Shouting into a microphone, she told the crowd, “This is our city… No justice, no peace,” and accused the president of directing violence at D.C. communities.
But Taylor’s opposition to Trump’s crime plan is only the latest in a series of public statements. In 2018, she posted bluntly on social media, “I want to abolish the police.” By 2021, she was urging the dismantling of “enslave patrols” and celebrating the idea of closing all prisons. That same year, she called for releasing protesters and ending the criminal justice system as it exists.
Her activism has included labeling the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department as a tool of systemic oppression and demanding its budget be cut in favor of community programs. In one 2022 post, she declared, “Defund @DCPoliceDept and invest in resources that keep people safe,” tying her message to a campaign hashtag, #DefundMPD. Harriet’s Wildest Dreams echoed her stance, linking defunding police to “food justice” and accusing law enforcement of perpetuating poverty and hunger.
Taylor’s advocacy extends beyond domestic policing. She has called for the abolition of ICE, condemning immigration raids as “chaos” and insisting that no form of law enforcement “keeps us safe.” She has also celebrated convicted murderer Assata Shakur, portraying the fugitive — who remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list — as a “freedom fighter” and political prisoner. Social media posts from her group during “Black August” praised Shakur’s resistance and downplayed her role in the killing of a New Jersey state trooper.
Free DC and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams have organized under guiding principles like “Do not obey in advance” and “Take up space,” urging residents to resist Trump’s “occupation” of D.C. by making noise each night — banging pots, chanting, and singing in protest.
Taylor’s public profile describes her as a “modern-day Harriet Tubman,” framing her activism as part of a broader liberation movement in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region. Her group emerged from the Black Lives Matter movement and has also defended anti-Israel protesters arrested at local universities.
The backdrop to this clash is a surge in violent crime that has rocked the city in recent years. D.C. has faced a wave of shootings, some claiming the lives of children, a string of deadly juvenile carjackings, and high-profile murders — including the June killing of 21-year-old congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym. Trump’s decision to federalize D.C.’s police department comes amid these escalating incidents, though critics claim overall crime rates have recently fallen.
Still, for Taylor, the president’s plan represents the very system she has spent years working to dismantle. And for Trump, her resistance appears to confirm why he says outside intervention is necessary to restore law and order in the capital.
