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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.
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“The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs,” Trump wrote. “… 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. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Former DOGE head Elon Musk weighed in on X, sharing more of the story.
“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,” Musk wrote. “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. It is time to federalize DC.”
When speaking with reporters Tuesday night, Trump said, “Either they’re going to straighten their act out in terms of government and in terms of protection, or we’re going to have to federalize and run it the way it’s supposed to be run.”
The president said it appears criminals are “not afraid” of the police, because “nothing ever happens to them.”
“Washington, D.C. must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see,” he wrote in the post. “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.”
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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.
Fox News Digital’s Andrea Margolis and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
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