THE armoured vehicles were stationed in position, troops in combat fatigues buzzed around and temperatures headed towards 33C.
But this wasn’t a scene from Iraq or Afghanistan. We were standing in Washington DC, the birthplace of American democracy.
The decision made by Donald Trump to deploy the National Guard sparked widespread anger. However, a night spent exploring the capital’s streets revealed a chilling collapse in law and order, described by The Sun.
Washington’s Lincoln Memorial is such a symbol of America that it features on the five-dollar bill.
This once-noteworthy monument now stands as a backdrop to numerous tents, forming a homeless encampment reminiscent of the migrant “jungle” in Calais.
Rubbish was strewn everywhere, and the occupants were clearly in it for the long haul. One had even somehow set up a washing machine.
Under a nearby bridge, mattresses and glass beer bottles lay scattered everywhere.
Piercing scream
I have never seen so many homeless in a city.
Within 30 seconds of arriving at the world-famous Union Station, I was confronted by a woman lying on the floor, with her trousers falling down.
Nearby, outside a library just a block from the White House, more groups of homeless individuals sat unperturbed by Trump’s warnings, adamantly declaring, “We are never leaving.”
Some had been smoking what they told me was super-strength cannabis, and were lying comatose on the floor unable to wake up.
A security guard at a nearby Hilton hotel said: “You think this is crazy? You should have seen it last week. There was a shooting nearby.”
He claimed that at the weekend, kids go to party and take fentanyl – a drug said to be more dangerous than heroin – on the rooftop of a nearby hotel.
Its swimming pool sits a matter of yards from the Capitol, home of America’s parliament.
One such get-together ended in a shooting – and when I left town the killer was still on the loose.
Not far away was a posh restaurant where the cheapest glass of wine will set you back 15 dollars.
But diners peering through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows can see the canvas of a tent and half a dozen homeless people shouting and swearing.
Locals say they are a group out of their minds on crack cocaine.
During my visit, one man hurled verbal abuse while holding a sign criticizing “the human race,” and another man berated a young girl, calling her a “b***h” for not giving him money.
Suddenly, there was a piercing scream and a woman had been knocked over by a speeding car.
Later, in scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood disaster flick, we observed hundreds of FBI agents being briefed near one of Washington D.C.’s most perilous areas, Anacostia.
One by one, their cars left the centre in dramatic fashion. That evening’s mission: A crackdown on “bloodthirsty criminals”.
Inspired by the FBI, we considered venturing into that neighborhood. However, we quickly realized it was unwise, as masked groups lingered, clearly looking for trouble.
As we cruised back to town, we spotted six blacked-out SUVs full of Drug Enforcement Administration officers armed with machine guns stopping a car and arresting a wrong ’un.
Another man was half-naked and trying to dance with scared tourists
Scarlet Howes
A crazed man sat in just his underpants at a bus stop he had turned into a makeshift home, and was terrifying people.
A woman coming home from work was so scared she jumped on the wrong bus just to escape from him.
He had taken fentanyl and, when he saw us, put his middle finger up.
Another man was half-naked and trying to dance with scared tourists who just wanted to see the city’s famous landmarks.
It seemed the men who Trump called “drugged-out maniacs” were lurking around almost every corner.
And his plan was in full force, as nearly every street had a police car parked up, or a special agent.
There were too many of them to count.
