President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to federalize Washington, D.C., calling for local minors and gang members over the age of 14 to be prosecuted as adults, after a famed former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee was allegedly beaten in the nation’s capital.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said local youth and gang members are “randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released.”
Along with the post, Trump shared a photo of a bloodied man on the street.
Multiple sources told Fox News Digital the person in the photo shared by the president is Edward Coristine, the teenager known as “Big Balls,” who previously worked for DOGE.
Sources told Fox News Digital Coristine was violently attacked late Sunday or early Monday.
Former DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was attacked on Monday while trying to help a woman, according to sources. (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
The most recent attack came after a House staffer in May was the victim of an armed carjacking in Navy Yard.
The same month, affiliate FOX 5 D.C. reported that a large group of teens took over a Navy Yard park, leading to several arrests and one hospitalization.
In July, congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, a 16-year-old boy and a woman were shot in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting. Tarpinian-Jachym later died.
In April, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was walking to the Navy Yard Metro Station when his staff member told him a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police officer had been stabbed in the face.
The Metropolitan Police Department, U.S. Capitol Police and White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
