Violent Crime Spurs Calls for Trump to Federalize D.C.

As violent crime surges in the nation’s capital, President Donald Trump is threatening to federalize Washington, D.C. if city authorities fail to control the streets. In a Truth Social post Tuesday night, the president declared violent crime in Washington to be “totally out of control.”

He explained, “Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released.” He added, “They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!” The president called on lawmakers to change the law in order “to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”

The president shared a photo of a young man sitting on the ground covered in blood, who Trump identified as D.C.’s “most recent victim” who “was beaten mercilessly by local thugs.” Staffers at the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) identified the pictured victim as Edward Coristine, a DOGE engineer. Fellow DOGE employee Marko Elez, who took the photo, reported that Coristine was beaten after he “protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by 8 thugs near Dupont Circle.” Elez commented, “Violence like this in the heart of DC is completely unacceptable.”

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore,” the president threatened. Referring to Coristine, he continued, “Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime.” Trump added, “If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City.”

Violent crime has been on the rise in D.C. for years, spiking to a 20-year-high in 2023 and earning D.C. the fifth-highest murder rate out of the country’s largest cities. The previous U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, who functions as the city’s prosecutor, had refused to prosecute the majority (nearly 70%) of crimes in D.C. in 2022. Although Graves, in response to vocal criticism and backlash, did begin prosecuting more crimes, he still left nearly 60% of crimes unprosecuted.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow and criminal justice expert at the Heritage Foundation, said, “Congress currently has plenary authority over the District of Columbia but has delegated most of that authority to local officials via the Home Rule Act. Unfortunately, local officials have used that delegated authority to push radical policies, especially in the area of criminal justice.” He noted that D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) “is currently facing a historic staffing crisis.”

While there have been calls for Congress to revoke Home Rule, Smith observed that “the president can unilaterally take certain actions. For example, he has appointed a new U.S. Attorney for D.C.,” former New York Judge Jeanine Pirro. He continued, “The president has also instructed federal law enforcement in the District to vigorously enforce the law. And in limited circumstances, the president can directly place MPD under federal control.”

Smith continued, “Congress, though, should step in and make it easier for the U.S. Attorney to charge certain juvenile offenders as adults in certain circumstances.” He explained, “Right now, the locally-elected D.C. Attorney General has primary authority for prosecuting juveniles, and he has said that he will never prosecute a juvenile as an adult. This has led to perversive incentives with gangs recruiting young kids to commit very violent crimes — knowing the juveniles will receive only a slap on the wrist.”

Rafael Mangual, a Manhattan Institute fellow and a member of the Council on Criminal Justice, told TWS that D.C. “needs to address its police officer shortage without lowering standards. The city has already tried to close this gap by offering large bonuses, but more needs to be done to make the job more attractive.” He explained, “For that, everything needs to be on the table — including even higher pay, larger bonuses, and specialized tracks that make officers eligible for faster promotional tracks and higher pay scales (akin to what the military does through OCS) to entice highly qualified applicants to raise their hands.”

“Once the under-policing has been addressed, the city can follow the model of jurisdictions that have made significant progress on the crime control front by ensuring that police resources are intelligently deployed in response to granular, thoroughly analyzed data about where crime is concentrated,” Mangual suggested. He continued, “Good policing will require backup from local prosecutors who should be taking a data-driven approach to how it deploys prosecutorial resources.” He added, “Finally, the city needs to ensure it has the carceral capacity to incapacitate the high-rate, high-risk offenders the police are able to arrest.”

Despite a very public spat with the president just months ago, tech billionaire and former DOGE advisor Elon Musk openly sided with Trump on the issue of federalizing D.C. “A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC. A [DOGE] team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her,” Musk said in a social media post, referring to Coristine being beaten. He added, “It is time to federalize DC.”

Appearing on Wednesday night’s episode of “Washington Watch,” Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) said, “I’m incredibly disappointed, as is the president, and as, literally, I think every person in our nation should be disappointed by what we’re seeing in our capital city.” He continued, “The crime that is currently happening in our city is totally out of control. And we have seen it get worse and worse under the Democrats’ administration. You know, the city has been 95% Democrat for a very long time, and we have seen the results of it. We’ve seen a massive increase in crime, we’ve seen homelessness.”

“This city, it’s a disgrace — literally, to be the shining city on a hill, of liberty to the entire world — the way it’s run. And I think it’s time that Congress take it back,” Clyde emphasized. The congressman noted that although the president has some strong executive authorities over the capital city, only Congress can actually federalize D.C. “Congress should be the one approving every law, and if Congress doesn’t approve it, then it should be null and void,” Clyde stipulated. He continued, “But that’s not the way the Home Rule statute in 1973 was written. And so I think that’s a huge mistake, and I think we need a legislative fix to that.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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