For the last three Washington Spirit home matches, Meredith Bartley has been keeping her eyes locked on the game clock.
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Washington Spirit supporters to continue chanting ‘Free DC’ despite end of federal surge
For the last three Washington Spirit home matches, Meredith Bartley has been keeping her eyes locked on the game clock.
Once the game clock displays 51:00 — meaning the start of the 52nd minute of the game — Bartley, the president of the Spirit Squadron supporters group, will lead a stadiumwide chant that has become a rallying cry for D.C. residents since the start of President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the District: “Free D.C.”
“When the ’51’ shows on the clock, we get going, and it is stunningly fast to take over the whole stadium,” Bartley told WTOP. “I can’t even describe it. There’s nothing to compare it to with how quickly it takes over.”
Spirit supporters have sung the “Free D.C.” chant at all four of its home matches at Audi Field during the surge. Now that it’s complete, Bartley said she and the rest of the Spirit Squadron will continue leading the chant as support for D.C. statehood.
“The outpouring of support for this ‘Free D.C.’ chant has been amazing, and it’s one of the loudest times I’ve heard Audi, let alone the loudest organized chant, not just going crazy for a goal,” she said.
It began after members of the Free D.C. organization reached out to the Squadron, the Spirit’s longest-serving supporters group, for a possible collaboration. Throughout the 2025 season, the supporters section at the Buzzard Point stadium displayed banners and signs in support of D.C. statehood.
Once the two organizations came together, Bartley said the idea of chanting “Free D.C.” emerged organically the morning before the Spirit’s match against Racing Louisville on Aug. 15. It unfolded just days after Trump’s emergency order took effect, and was quickly communicated to the other three groups occupying the supporters’ section and posted on social media.
‘We love D.C.’
Douglas Reyes-Ceron, co-founder of the Rose Room Collective fan group, said he was a little uncertain if fans would be engaged or receptive at first. However, as more supporters shared their support for the cause on social media, his feelings changed.
“Living here, a lot of folks are just so tired and pissed at everything going on,” Reyes-Ceron said. “I think they’ve been looking for some kind of outlet to let loose on a little bit. And this has probably been one of the best expressions we’ve had publicly to like uniformly say, ‘No, we’re not here for this.’”
Most chants and songs sung by Spirit fans are confined to the supporters section in the north stands, which has a capacity of 1,500. However, the “Free D.C.” chant became the only one sung stadiumwide, with the Spirit averaging around 14,000 fans per match.
Fans start by singing the words “Free D.C.,” followed by a drumbeat. Once the clock displays 52 minutes, all of Audi Field cheers and applauds.
The response to the chant garnered attention.
Soon after the Louisville match, fans began bringing signs and banners, all in support of D.C. Bartley said other supporters around the National Women’s Soccer League sang the chant, including during the Spirit’s road match against Bay FC in San Francisco.
Aaron Bland, of the Rose Room Collective, is a D.C. native. He called the use of the chant a “call to action” that was important for all fans to recognize, and hopes it continues even after “the occupation” is over.
“Even as simple as it being like a chant in the stadium, I think it’s just very meaningful and impactful,” Bland said. “To see it in the stadium and even reverberate in some markets outside of the city, too, it just means the world.”
The Washington Spirit remains the only D.C.-area professional sports team to address the federal surge. In a statement addressed to the District, the soccer club said it would stand by the city: “As your neighbors, we walk beside you.”
During his postgame news conference Sunday, head coach Adrián González called the chanting “something really powerful.”
“We love D.C.,” González said. “We love the community and we (have) a great connection with our fans. We are very close, and I think it is something powerful that people can come to Audi Field and enjoy with their families. We are creating a safe space here.”
Bartley said the plan is to continue leading a “Free D.C.” chant going forward “until D.C. is free,” with the goal of supporting a push for statehood for the District.
Even if the federal emergency expired, Bartley said the presence of National Guard troops and House bills attempting to wrestle power over the city government means the battle for D.C.’s autonomy rages on.
“We decided to do it, but we won’t decide to end it,” she said. “They’re coming after Home Rule next, and I think it’ll continue on, hopefully organically, until D.C. is free, which for us and for the Free D.C. group is statehood.”
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Jose Umana
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