Trump floats federal control of D.C. after fed staffer beaten

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would take federal control of Washington, D.C. if its authorities don’t swiftly reduce crime rates. He shared a photo of a bloodied young man he said was the latest victim of local youth gangs.

The Associated Press identified the victim as Edward Coristine. Coristine is a former Department of Government Efficiency employee who currently works for the Social Security Administration. The victim intervened as a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car a few days ago, according to former presidential advisor Elon Musk. The gang beat Coristine, giving him a concussion. The woman is safe, Musk said.

Police on Tuesday said the incident was an attempted unarmed carjacking. They arrested two 15-year-old suspects, a male and a female from Hyattsville, Md. Authorities were still seeking additional suspects, according to Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department.

The D.C. city administrator on Friday said violent crime rates were down 26% compared to the same time last year, with a total of 1,519 recorded violent crimes since January.

What solutions did Trump propose? The District of Columbia should change juvenile crime laws to prosecute 14-year-olds as adults, he said. The district currently allows children ages 15-17 to be prosecuted as adults for certain violent crimes.

The president can’t fully take control of D.C. unless Congress suspends, alters, or overturns the 1973 Home Rule Act. But the act allows him to temporarily control district police. He could also use a task force he created via executive order in March.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s recent report on a drop in national crime rates in 2024.