Maryland Veterans Rally Against Trump Threats To Send Federal Troops To Baltimore

By Danielle J. Brown, Maryland Matters

November 12, 2025

They may not be in uniform anymore, but the group of veterans that gathered Tuesday at the War Memorial Plaza in Baltimore said they still felt called to serve.

The veterans gathered to rally about President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to send federal troops into the city. They said veterans must again defend democracy, but this time in their own cities.

“Every major step towards justice in this country – freedom, opportunity, equality – was carried forward by men and women who served,” said Bobby LaPin, an Army veteran, local business owner and social media figure. “Now once again, it’s veterans who must stand and defend this nation, not from enemies abroad, but from racism and fascism and corporate corruptions that is growing here at home.
Bobby LaPin, an Army veteran and a Baltimore social media figure, said veterans must fight against the use of federal troops in American cities. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters)
“When we raised our right hands and took an oath, it wasn’t to a politician, it wasn’t to a party, it was to the Constitution of the United States,” he said. “That oath did not expire when we took off our uniforms.”

LaPin was one of 10 veterans at the Baltimore demonstration, which was part of a nationwide demonstration called “Vets Say No,” organized by About Face Veterans, a veteran-led anti-war advocacy group.

“It’s a day to send a message,” said Clifford “Buzz” Grambo, a retired chief petty officer of the Navy, at the rally. “We can say it any day, but it’s Veteran’s Day. So obviously it carries a little bit more weight. Hopefully a lot of the civilian world will see it and start speaking out more.”

The “Vets Say No” demonstrations were organized in cities that already have federal troop presence and in cities, like Baltimore, where Trump has threatened to send troops. The administration has already deployed National Guard members to Los Angeles, Memphis, Portland, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

As with other cities where he has deployed, or threatened to deploy, troops, Trump said he was doing so in response to surging crime in the cities he called crime “hellholes.” Local officials said that not only does Trump not have the authority to order Guard troops into cities, they are not the way to deal with crime and are not welcome.

In Baltimore, both Mayor Brandon Scott and Gov. Wes Moore said there is still work to be done to fight crime, but that rates of gun violence and homicides have fallen sharply. Federal help is welcome, they said, but not a military presence. That was echoed by vets at Tuesday’s rally.
Tim Eppers said a military “occupation” of Baltimore by National Guard troops would not solve the city’s problems. (Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters).
“The National Guard has an honorable mission – disaster relief, rescue, rebuilding. That service, that protection, that’s what soldiers should do,” said Tim Eppers, a former Army sergeant. “But when they’re deployed in cities like ours, it turns our protectors into enforcers and citizens into suspects.”

Eppers said sending soldiers into Baltimore does not solve problems that the city faces, and resources should instead go into schools and education, mental health services and other programs that support communities.

“The idea of sending the National Guard in cities like Baltimore is wrong. It’s the wrong message, the wrong method and the wrong kind of mission,” Eppers said. “You can’t deploy your way to peace.”

“Every time we send soldiers into our own neighborhoods,” he said, “we’re sending a message, and that message says ‘we don’t trust you. We’ll control you before we’ll take care of you.’ That message destroys the very trust that keeps our communities safe. Baltimore doesn’t need an occupation, it needs opportunity.”