WASHINGTON — President Trump again threatened Tuesday to bring the District of Columbia under federal control due to “out of control” crime in the nation’s capital.
“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,” Trump posted in a lengthy statement on Truth Social.
The president urged city officials to begin charging minors as adults for violent crimes beginning at age 14 — and “lock them up for a long time”.
“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together,” Trump wrote, “we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City.”
The president included a picture of a young man sitting on the ground with blood streaming down his face after being apparently being assaulted by teenagers.
Former Trump ally Elon Musk said on X that a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee had rushed to help a woman who was in danger of being assaulted in her car — only to be beat up by the gang of teenagers himself.
The District was granted the power to elect a mayor and city council by the 1973 Home Rule Act, but Congress does still exercise considerable authority over the inhabitants.
In 2023, Congress passed — and then-President Joe Biden approved — a law blocking a revision to the DC criminal code that would have lowered maximum penalties for certain violent crimes, including carjacking and armed robbery.
