President Donald Trump on Monday moved to federalize policing in the nation’s capital, following years of unchecked violent crime in Washington, D.C.
The polarizing move has caused an uproar from opponents, and celebrations from supporters who want to see an end to violence in the city. The move comes after Washington has garnered national attention with a string of high-profile incidents in recent months and years that precipitated Trump’s move.
However, not everyone agrees with Trump’s new plan.
President Donald Trump, alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, and Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaks during a news conference to discuss crime in Washington, D.C., in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 11, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Fox News contributor and former D.C. homicide detective Ted Williams is among those who oppose the federal intervention. “While the president may mean well, this is going nowhere fast,” he told Fox News Digital. “D.C. is not a war zone. The lawsuits for constitutional violations are coming. This is overkill.”
He also said criminals will just wait out the federalization, and return when National Guard troops are pulled from the streets.
“Jo Jo and his boys are going on vacation and will return after this crazy experiment ends.”
President Donald Trump moved to federalize policing in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
National Fraternal Order of Police President Joe Gamaldi likes Trump’s plan.
“Their average homicide rate has doubled in the last 10 years. They used to average less than 100 homicides. Now they average over 200,” Gamaldi said, a claim which is backed up by the city’s own data.
“And it’s because you have a radical element on that city council that has defunded their police. They have embraced revolving door criminal justice policies. And frankly, they treated the hardworking men and women of law enforcement in that town like crap. So, of course, they need help. You have to do something, otherwise it’s going to get out of control.”
Below is a list of some of the most notorious crimes the city has seen.
1. Ex-DOGE staffer beaten by teens in attempted carjacking
Former Department of Government Efficiency employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was attacked while trying to help a woman, according to sources. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
In the early morning hours of Aug. 3, an ex-Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was beaten during an attempted carjacking in the city’s Logan Circle neighborhood.
Edward Coristine, known as “Big Balls,” was confronted by a group of teens while out with his significant other. Police said he pushed the woman into his vehicle to protect her and bore the brunt of the wrath of the criminals.
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., participates in a news conference outside the Capitol on the Affordable Insulin Now Act vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday, March 31, 2022. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Other recent violent crimes include the 2023 beating death of a homeless man with a metal pipe near the Ellipse in Washington’s downtown, and a Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police officer who was stabbed in the face near the D.C. Navy Yard subway station.
