Community meeting held in Philadelphia to discuss National Guard deployments to US cities

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- While President Trump has not announced plans to send National Guard troops to Philadelphia to combat crime, District Attorney Larry Krasner is holding a series of community conversations about the possibility of that happening.

The first town hall was held Tuesday night at the Salt & Light Church in Kingsessing. Addressing the crowd, Krasner said, "We are here because all over the city are people who don't want an invasion."

Amid his push to crack down on crime across the country, President Trump has already sent National Guard troops to intervene in cities like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

RELATED: Trump deploys National Guard to Memphis, calling it a 'replica' of his crackdown on Washington

In recent days, the president announced he will send the National Guard to Memphis, Tennessee. He has also discussed plans to send troops to Chicago.

Krasner said he doesn't know what the Trump administration is going to do, or if federal troops will be sent to the city.

Joined by other city and community leaders, the district attorney urged attendees of Tuesday's town hall to resist any National Guard presence in Philadelphia.

He also said people should be prepared to document anything they see if federal troops are sent to the city.

ALSO SEE: 'We are prepared': Gov. Shapiro says Pa. is ready if Trump tries to send National Guard

"If there is an invasion of this city, get your phones up, get that out on social media," Krasner said.

At one point, things got heated as Krasner spoke about President Trump and his supporters.

He told the crowd, "These are people who agree with Adolf Hitler when he said that equality is a degenerate notion."

Krasner's comment was interrupted by Frank Scales, a Trump supporter from South Philadelphia, who screamed out, "Lies! That's why Charlie Kirk was killed. You're demonizing. That's a disgrace."

Scales later said, "If Krasner disagrees with Trump, he should say that in good faith, not demonize him and call him a fascist."

When asked, Krasner said he stood by his comments.

"It is absolutely necessary to recognize the times we are in, to not be appeasers, to not stand by, to not let people take over everything that I believe in and the city believes in," he said.

Action News spoke with several people after the meeting to get their thoughts on whether the National Guard should be deployed to Philadelphia.

"We don't need people who are not from our neighborhood trying to give us solutions," Tone Barr, of the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia, said. "We need people from the neighborhood to give us solutions because we are the ones who are actually going through the problems."

As someone who has been affected by gun violence, Danielle Shaw said she would like to see crime in the city lowered. Her 23-year-old daughter was killed in 2018.

However, Shaw, who lives in Cobbs Creek, said she isn't sure the National Guard is the answer.

"I'm not saying if they came there wouldn't be a change. Yeah, there could be a change. But to me, that would be a Band-Aid. When they pack up and go, where does that leave us?" Shaw questioned.

Action News also spoke with Jennifer Buhl, who said she hopes the Trump administration can intervene.

"I just want something to be done. I don't care if it's through the National Guard, but Larry has had four years to do something," she said. "I'm scared to live here in the city, and I adore Philadelphia, but I think everybody is scared. The crime is rampant."

Vince Fenerty, the chairman of the Philadelphia Republican Party, said he believes District Attorney Krasner should concentrate on keeping criminals off the streets instead of speaking about the National Guard potentially coming to the city.

"Our police commissioner here does his best to control crime. I do believe Larry Krasner is just stirring the pot to get reelected," Fenerty said. "He needs to concentrate on running a good district attorney's office."