Don't smoke outside. Trump is tired of it.

I continue to monitor events in DC from my home in Savannah but am ready to go should anything major go down. Trips like these cost money, though, so if you want to support my reporting, please consider a paid subscription or dropping a few bucks in the Doom Coffee Fund. Through next week I’m offering half off all Doom subscriptions, so you can support my independent, adversarial journalism for as little as $3 a month. - jg

Here’s how this is going to go: Federal police from agencies like the U.S. Park Police — like the guy in the video above — and DHS sub-agencies are going to find themselves interacting with DC residents in the days and weeks ahead.

With little in the way of training of how to carry out these interactions without violating people’s constitutional rights, these officers will inevitably do so. And they’ll be doing so primarily in Black communities.

Trump orders federal takeover of Washington DC

The best case scenario looks like what you see above — an annoying but mostly harmless encounter with a federal agent who is walking a fine line between harassing people for no reason and just doing what he’s told. The worst case scenario is that one of these agents — who I presume overwhelmingly support the president because they chose to enlist in agencies like ICE that are staffed with some of the most aggressive law enforcement this country has to offer — shoots or kills someone.

Then, all hell breaks loose.

American police have a difficult choice to make

Right now, things seem relatively calm. A photographer friend working the streets in DC today told me that nothing much is going on. He found National Guard members outside the DC armory carrying in fruit snacks.

All that could change in an instant, and then we’ll be headed toward unrest.