Northeast
‘Baltimore is on fire’: Residents reveal whether Trump should send National Guard to combat violent crime
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BALTIMORE – President Donald Trump is eyeing Baltimore for his next crime crackdown, but while residents agree the city needs change, they remain divided over whether deploying the National Guard is the answer.
Fox News Digital spoke with 17 locals in Baltimore on Wednesday about what a National Guard deployment would mean for their community. While many worried it would raise tensions and inspire riots, others said the troops could serve as a crime deterrent.
When asked if Trump should step in and send troops to the city, Tasha, a young mother who was pushing her baby in a stroller outside the Department of Social Services, said, “Yes, I do, because right now our city needs it. Baltimore is on fire right now. We need as much help as we can get.”
Joseph, a Penn-North resident, said the National Guard’s presence would deter drug dealers and users from loitering on the streets around his home. There was a homeless woman sleeping on his front stoop while Fox News Digital spoke to him on Wednesday.
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Fox News Digital spoke to Baltimore residents this week about Trump’s plan to send in the National Guard. (Fox News Digital)
“I think it would make it a lot better,” Joseph said.
Daren Muhammed, a local radio host who called Penn-North “ground zero,” said “all options should be placed on the table and made available” to clean up the streets he calls home.
“My feeling is if the federal government’s offering help, one’s foolish to turn it down,” Anthony, a Baltimore resident for 30 years, said.
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Abandoned buildings in the Penn-North neighborhood of Baltimore, MD (Fox News Digital)
Every Penn-North resident who spoke to Fox News Digital on Wednesday recognized the city has a crime issue.
More than two dozen people were hospitalized in a mass drug overdose event in Penn-North in July. Meanwhile, three out of the seven homicides in Baltimore during August were in the nearby Park Heights, according to local reports.
Between people selling and using drugs on the corner as one police car was parked just down the street, Tasha said that in Penn-North, “everything is back out here running like it didn’t even happen a month ago.”
Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott celebrated “historic reductions in violent crime” in a statement released on Monday, touting 91 homicides and 218 nonfatal shootings in 2025, which he said are 29.5% and 21% drops.
“We’re good; we don’t need or want the National Guard here in Baltimore,” Scott said in response to Trump’s potential plans, while promoting a statistic that Baltimore is experiencing its lowest homicide rate in 50 years.
Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., has reiterated the same stats and even invited Trump for a public safety walk through Baltimore.
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Fox News Digital spoke to Baltimore residents about Trump’s plan to send in the National Guard to combat crime (Fox News Digital)
“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk,” Trump wrote back on Truth Social, as the president continues to signal his willingness to send troops.
Statistics compiled by the nonprofit research institute Just Facts show that Baltimore’s 2024 murder rate is still 6.8 times the average for all metropolitan areas in the nation and that if the murder rate stays the same as it was in 2024, roughly 1 in every 38 people in the city will have their lives cut short by murder at some point during the course of their lives.
“I don’t think they need to bring the troops in,” Sarah, who said she is homeless and an addict, told Fox News Digital. “I think that is going to get an uproar. It’s going to start a riot.”
Sarah said she has witnessed robberies, thefts and shootings but said it would be “absurd” to send the National Guard, adding, “We’re not in war zone.”
Trayvon, a young man from Baltimore who was hanging around outside the CVS Pharmacy in Penn-North on Wednesday, said the National Guard is “not going to change s–t” in a “rebellious city that ain’t been shown love in forever.”
“I think anyone who’s lived here through Freddie Gray, through a curfew, through almost having martial law in a certain kind of way, having the ramp closed off and locked off to come in after a certain hour, literally being blocked from it if you were on that side of town, with the Guard there and a couple of other different departments, I think psychologically it’s not probably best for people who probably still haven’t healed,” Baltimore local, Ashley, said in neighboring Bolton Hill.
Freddie Gray was a 25-year-old Black man from Baltimore who died in police custody in 2015. The National Guard was deployed to Baltimore after his death sparked protests that devolved into riots, igniting a national debate about racism and police brutality.
“The day when the people cannot control themselves and cannot police themselves will be the end of everything,” another woman from Baltimore said in Bolton Hill. “That’s what we are seeing right now. Nobody will save us – not the National Guard, not the police.”
Ronette, a woman who spoke to Fox News Digital while passing by the Department of Social Services in Penn-North, agreed, arguing that Baltimore can take care of itself.
“We don’t need Trump coming in the door,” she said.
Another Baltimore resident, George, said Trump threatening to deploy troops is merely a “stunt,” while a woman wearing a face mask outside her home in Bolton Hill said it would “raise tensions much higher than they already are.”
Will Hanna, a combat veteran from Baltimore, said the city needs federal help but not from the National Guard.
A busy street corner in Baltimore’s Penn-North neighborhood (Fox News Digital)
“I think there are some resources that we haven’t exhausted as a city and as a state,” Hanna said. “I think that we still can bring the state troopers here.”
Trump has floated the idea of sending federal troops to Baltimore, similar to his recent move to send troops to Washington, D.C., to “quickly clean up the crime” if Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he needs help.
“Chicago is a hellhole right now, Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” Trump said earlier this month. “We have a right to do it because I have an obligation to do it to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”
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The 24-year-old forward had a career-high 68 points (27 goals, 41 assists) in 2024-25 with the Sabres before getting traded to Utah in June, 2025. Peterka posted 47 points (25 goals, 22 assists) through 82 games in his first year with the Mammoth.
“He’s got an elite shot. Probably gives us another look on the elbows in a power play situation. His power play minutes dipped a little bit last year; his 5-on-5 production has been really good, plays both wings, can probably play with a couple different types of centers,” Sweeney said.
Peterka had a similar assessment for himself.
“I think a pretty fast game, likes to score goals,” he said. “Just overall, exciting player that loves to make plays.”
Sweeney also sees a versatility in Peterka’s game that can benefit his new teammates up and down the lineup.
“I think he fits into a good group age-wise because he’s able to have played in the league with all the experience he’s had, the success he’s had, so he can ride shotgun with David because he has had scoring,” Sweeney said. “He can go down and drive a line, which he has done.”
The prospect of him playing with someone like David Pastrnak is something that excites both Sweeney and Peterka.
“That would be pretty sick, not going to lie,” Peterka said. “If you have that caliber of a player, I think everyone wants to play with him. From the past, playing against him, even watching him, was always super special. I would be super honored, for sure.”
While Peterka has already played four full seasons in the NHL, he still has his whole career in front of him. He joins a young new wave of Bruins players – alongside the likes of Reichel, Fraser Minten, Marat Khusnutdinov and James Hagens – who will carve the future identity of the team. The ceiling is high for Peterka.
“In JJ’s case, he has had success. We have to come in and put him in the right situations so he continues to score at the level we think he can. Morgan [Geekie] is a great example,” Sweeney said. “Did we think he was going to score 39 goals when we first acquired him? No. But that’s always the hope – that a player will take advantage of a new opportunity and playing with different types of players than what they were in their other environment.”
Peterka is ready for the challenge and to prove that he has another gear to his game to help the Bruins win.
“I think it’s always nice to have a fresh start. I think especially after the year I had last year where I wasn’t really happy with the performance I put on the ice,” Peterka said. “For me, I feel like it’s a fresh start. And for a team like Boston, it couldn’t be any better.”
The Pittsburgh Penguins got what they wanted.
Friday night was life-changing for Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick Liam Ruck of the Medicine Hat Tigers. The organization selected him with the 22nd overall pick. Saturday morning was life-changing for his identical twin brother Markus Ruck as the Penguins used the first of their second-round picks to select him.
And the twins and teammates in Medicine Hat, who have spent only four days apart in their first 18 years, got what they wanted, too. They’re both Pittsburgh Penguins.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas told reporters Friday night, following the conclusion of Round One, that it appeared more likely in the days leading to the draft that the team would not be able to trade up and that Liam Ruck would be available to them.
There were credible rumors emanating from the league side that some teams considered taking Markus to spur trade talks with the Penguins, but eventually, the other half of the WHL’s high-scoring duo was available Saturday morning with the 39th overall pick.
While Liam had 45 goals and 104 points in 68 games, Markus was the slick playmaking center who kept him fed. Markus Ruck had 108 points with 87 assists. Both brothers need to both add bulk but also improve their skating, which scouts consider a weakness.
Liam is the slightly larger twin, at 6-foot, 177 pounds. Markus weighs in at 6-foot, 167 pounds.
The story is developing, and Pittsburgh Hockey Now will update the story after Markus Ruck speaks with the media.
Categorized:2026 NHL Draft Pittsburgh Penguins
A person who was reported missing late Friday night in Brookfield has been found dead.
Police received a report of a missing person around 11 p.m. As officers were searching the area, they said they found an ATV off of the roadway and in the woods on Candlewood Shores Road.
According to investigators, the sole occupant of the ATV was found dead at the scene. The person’s identity has not yet been released.
The investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Brian Flanagan at (203) 740-4169.
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