Tag: washington dc

DC crime eclipses Latin American capitals as Trump weighs federalizing the district

President Donald Trump’s threat to federalize Washington, D.C., should it fail to effectively deal with violent crime, comes as the city’s crime statistics show the American capital is less safe than many of the major cities of Latin America.

Washington, D.C., recorded 187 homicides in 2024 in a population of roughly 702,000. That total represents a murder rate of 26.6 per 100,000. That figure marked a 32% drop from 2023’s 274, when the rate was roughly 41 per 100,000.

Data from the Heritage Foundation shows that in 2023, D.C. had a homicide rate of 40.9 homicides per 100,000 residents and ranked fourth worst in the nation, behind only New Orleans (53.8), St. Louis (53.7), and Detroit (40.9). 

“If D.C. were a state, it would have the highest homicide rate of any state in the United States,” the conservative think-tank added. 

By way of comparison, the 2023 rate for Mexico City stood at about 8 per 100,000. Bogota, Colombia boasted a rate of 14 per 100,000 in 2023. Quito, Ecuador boasted a rate of 45 per 100,000, just slightly higher than D.C. in that year.

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New hate crime charges filed in killing of Israeli Embassy staffers, raising death penalty potential

D.C. federal prosecutors have filed federal hate crime and murder charges against the man accused of gunning down two Israeli Embassy staffers this spring, giving the Justice Department the option to pursue the death penalty in the case.

The newly unsealed indictment lays out the alleged digital footprint of Elias Rodriguez’s antisemitic views that prosecutors say fueled the deadly shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah MilgrIm, a young couple who were days away from being engaged in Jerusalem.

The court documents include a “notice of special findings” that includes the potential for Mr. Rodriguez, 31, to receive the death penalty. 

Surveillance video showed Rodriguez advancing closer to Lischinsky and Milgrim as they fell to the ground, leaning over them and firing additional shots. He appeared to reload before jogging off, officials have said.

The defendant is accused of flying from Chicago to the District with his legally owned pistol to carry out the May 21 attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum. 

The new indictment says Mr. Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” when he shot the couple dead as they left the venue, according to court documents. 

Surveillance video allegedly captured Mr. Rodriguez standing over the victims and firing more shots into the couple after he initially downed them.

The filing said he then went inside the museum and claimed he killed the pair “for Gaza” and “for Palestine” while brandishing a red keffiyeh, a traditional Arabic scarf often associated with anti-Israel activists.

Mr. Rodriguez continued to shout “Free Palestine” during his arrest, the indictment said, and made statements about “intifada” and “revolution” as well. He also yelled  “shame on you” at event attendees inside the museum and “shame on Zio-nazi terror.”  

Old social media posts cited in court documents include a 2024 post that said “Happy New Year, Death To Israel.”

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Ex-DOGE staffer nicknamed ‘Big Balls’ left bloodied after savage DC carjacking attempt by 10 juveniles

A 19-year-old former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer was beaten and bloodied by a mob of 10 minors early Sunday as he thwarted a carjacking attempt in the nation’s capital, according to DC police.

Edward Coristine, whose LinkedIn handle earned him the nickname “Big Balls” at DOGE, was with a woman near downtown DC when he saw the group of juveniles approach their car and “make a comment about taking the vehicle,” according to a Metropolitan Police Department incident report obtained by The Post.

“At that point, for her safety, [Coristine] pushed his significant other … into the vehicle and turned to deal with the suspects,” the dramatic report continues.

“The suspects then began to assault [Coristine],” the ex-DOGE staffer told officers, who rolled up on the scene at the same time he was being attacked.

Officers patrolling the 1400 block of Swann Street NW — a popular area with several shops, bars and restaurants about a mile north of the White House — noticed “a group of approximately ten juveniles surrounding the complainants’ vehicle and assaulting [Coristine],” the report states.  

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No Escape From Washington’s Fiscal Doomsday Machine

If you don’t think Washington is in the maws of a Fiscal Doomsday Machine, think again.

And the place to start is with the 30-year CBO projections—expressed as the dollar increase from the current $29 trillion level of publicly held US Treasury debt.

To wit, if Washington does nothing except leave current tax, spending and structural deficit policies in place (i.e. baseline policy), the publicly-held debt will grow by $102 trillion over the next three decades, reaching a staggering 154% of what would be $85 trillion of GDP by 2054.

Moreover, that outcome assumes that Rosy Scenario does not loose her footing for even a moment through the middle of the century. Stated differently, the underlying CBO projections presume that there will be no recession during the 34 year span from 2020 to 2054, and that, in fact, there will be perpetual full-employment at about 4% from here on out.

Of course, during the last 30 years there have been three recessions (shaded area) and no such full-employment perfection was even remotely achieved. The short spells of 4% unemployment or under, in fact, were few and far between—in stark contrast to the CBO baseline which presumes 4% unemployment year after year until 2054.

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Did Trump Expose the DC Sham on Waste and Fraud?

On January 24, President Trump fired 17 inspector generals working for a wide array of federal agencies. Trump’s action jolted Washington because most of those officials could supposedly only be removed for cause — specific misconduct or other abuses. Trump also scorned the federal law requiring giving Congress 30-days notice before terminating such officials. 

Some of the inspector generals that Trump axed had done good work exposing government abuses while others had defaulted to the lap dog mode. A White House official justified the firings: “These rogue, partisan bureaucrats who have weaponized the justice system against their political enemies are no longer fit or deserve to serve in their appointed positions.” The official said the firings will “make room for qualified individuals who will uphold the rule of law and protect Democracy.” 

Maybe the White House wanted inspector generals who could bring bigger brooms to sweep evidence under rugs? The controversy that erupted over Trump’s firings largely ignored the long history of inspector generals either being wrongfully terminated or being worse than useless. 

Politicians create facades to make citizens believe that government automatically guards against waste, fraud, and abuse. The purpose of inspector generals is to create the illusion of honest government — to make people think that oversight is going on. While inspector generals are routinely portrayed as paragons of integrity, many are appointed by the chief of the federal agency they oversee. Their jobs and budgets depend directly on the political appointees they are supposed to investigate, and they grovel accordingly.

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The FBI Weren’t the Only Feds Embedded in the Crowd on Jan 6 and at Butler

There were more than FBI insurgents embedded in Jan 6 crowd.  Homeland Security’s federal employees were all over the place there and at Butler as well. 

Mike Benz outlined the feds involved in Jan 6 and Butler.  This evidence helps Americans see how much the government is working against good Americans.

Late last year Kash Patel shared evidence that the Feds were involved in Jan 6.

The following was reported in the book – The Steal – Volume III: The Cover-Up.  Jeffrey McKellop was at Jan 6 and was punished for saving a woman’s life.  He later uncovered the special ops used against Americans on that day and was punished for doing so.

Here is what he shared that was reported in The Steal – Volume III: The Cover-Up:

Two years after his imprisonment, word came out about a Jan 6 hostage by the name of Jeffrey McKellop, a decorated former 3rd Special Forces Group soldier and US government contractor. Jeffrey was being held in the DC Gulag in Washington DC as a political prisoner after he served his country for 22 years of military service (the DC Gulag was the name given to the Washington DC jail where the Jan 6 hostages were being held).

Jeffrey has been silenced by his government. After his arrest in March 2021, Jeffrey delved into video footage and documented evidence from January 6. Jeffrey was able to identify numerous government informants and agitators in the massive Trump crowd that day. After he put together his evidence, he sent it out to numerous contacts. That was when the FBI came into his prison cell and took his research. They then attempted to silence him and banned him from phone and mail privileges . . .

. . . [McKellop says] I know for a fact that there were undercover agents, man. I saw them. I spotted it. And when you find one, then you know what to look for, and then you find them. All undercover agents, they all wear the same thing. They all move the same way. They all get together the same way. Why do I know these? Because I used to do the same thing . . .

I’ve been saying this for a year and a half now, that Antifa were there, Antifa and BLM were there, but they changed their chameleons, man. They look like us, they dress like us, they act like us, and then they committed violence in our name. That is guerrilla warfare.

McKellop identified individuals in the videos he saw, and he is convinced these people were working for the government. He’s been in jail for more than two years without a trial for the crime of knowing too much.

McKellop shared his thoughts on Jan 6 and more in an interview out yesterday.  This is raw and real. 

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Academic Center Within Georgetown’s Prestigious School of Foreign Service Has Long History of Terror-Supporting Leaders

An academic center at Georgetown University that sits within its prestigious School of Foreign Service has a history of fostering support for Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other Islamist groups, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), founded in 1993, has hosted scholars sympathetic to Islamism since its inception. John Esposito, the center’s founder and a professor of religion and international affairs and of Islamic studies at Georgetown, has long defended terrorist groups and collaborated with jihadist figures.

As the Free Beacon reported in June, approximately 25 percent of all graduates from the ACMCU—which operates within the School of Foreign Service—enter government positions around the world after receiving their degrees. The ACMCU’s history appears likely to draw congressional scrutiny during a Tuesday morning House Education and Workforce Committee hearing featuring Georgetown interim president Robert Groves, as does the funding it has received from the Muslim Brotherhood-linked International Institute for Islamic Thought (IIIT).

The IIIT, the Free Beacon reported, had a relationship with the now-defunct SAAR Foundation, which ceased operations after the FBI raided its offices on suspicion of terrorism financing. Georgetown acknowledged that the IIIT “contributed $1 million or more to Georgetown” in 2017 when the university invited the organization’s leadership to its 1789 Society for large donors.

Esposito’s scholarly and professional history includes many instances of either the defense of or support for terror groups and figures. When asked whether Hamas was a terrorist organization during a 2000 interview with the Middle East Affairs Journal, for instance, Esposito hedged.

“One can’t make a clear statement about Hamas,” he said. “One has to distinguish between Hamas in general and the action of its military wing, and then one has also to talk about specific actions. Some actions by the military wing of Hamas can be seen as acts of resistance, but other actions are acts of retaliation, particularly when they target civilians.”

Esposito had more charitable words for Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a late Islamic scholar and intellectual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood whom the Clinton administration banned from entering the United States.

“If you look at Qaradawi’s work—I actually just finished working on him for a new book that I have—he goes out of his way to say that he is not anti-Jewish but he is anti-Israeli, anti-Israeli occupation of Palestine, and that is what he is talking about,” Esposito said. “So, he will talk about Jews again as ‘People of the Book,’ et cetera, but when it comes to Palestine, he defines that situation politically.”

Al-Qaradawi’s work, which Esposito referenced, included praise for Adolf Hitler.

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Congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym killed when gunman opens fire in tragic Washington D.C. shooting

A Congressional intern was killed in Washington, D.C. after being struck by bullets when gunmen opened fire on a group of people.

Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, an intern for Representative Ron Estes, was fatally shot late Monday night in what authorities believe was a targeted attack near the U.S. Capitol.

Tarpinian-Jachym was not the intended target but an innocent bystander in the tragic shooting.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department responded to reports of gunfire around 10:30 p.m. near 1200 7th Street. Upon arrival, they found Tarpinian-Jachym unconscious, along with two other victims who were conscious.

According to the department, multiple suspects exited a vehicle and opened fire on a group of people, striking three individuals.

All three victims – Tarpinian-Jachym, a woman, and a 16-year-old male – suffered gunshot wounds and were transported to a nearby hospital.

Tarpinian-Jachym succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on Tuesday, ABC News reported.

According to a LinkedIn profile believed to belong to him, Tarpinian-Jachym had been interning for Representative Estes for about two months. Before that, he reportedly worked for a government relations firm, also in Washington, D.C.

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DC government is faking crime data, systematically under-reporting violence

Despite triumphant claims of “historic drops” in violent crime, D.C. residents find ourselves kicking off the summer with feelings of uncertainty. As I explore a possible run for local office, I have learned that systematic undercharging is fueling some portion of these so-called declines in violent crime. In short, a manipulation of the crime statistics is causing them not to align with reality, which helps explain why people in Washington don’t feel safe. 

When a violent crime is reported as a “felony threat,” rather than “assault with a dangerous weapon,” it is not counted as a violent crime.

Our city leaders must act now to determine whether this is happening, to what extent, and how it impacts not only those within my own Ward 6, but also throughout the district.

On Feb. 20, to great fanfare, the Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer released the following statement: “Our initiatives and investments led to a historic 35 percent drop in violent crime in 2024, including a 32 percent drop in homicides and a 39 percent decrease in robberies. These decreases drove crime in Washington, D.C. down to its lowest levels in more than two decades.”

Similarly, the Department of Justice previously announced that “total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35 percent from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years, according to data collected by the [Metropolitan Police Department].”

And, not surprisingly, these statistics have worked their way into the community’s bloodstream. In a May 24 Ward 6 Update, Councilman Charles Allen trumpeted them in his public safety updates by noting “a consistent decline in violent crime that we want to sustain and continue to drive down even further.” 

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DC’s exclusive $500K private club The Executive Branch launches with tech titans, cabinet secretaries

On Friday night, tech billionaires and cabinet secretaries celebrated the opening of Washington, DC’s “The Executive Branch” — the members-only club co-founded by Donald Trump Jr. and 1789 Capital partner Omeed Malik

Trump Jr. and Malik hosted the party for founding members who paid a $500,000 initiation fee, with their co-founders: 1789 partner Christopher Buskirk and Alex and Zach Witkoff, the sons of Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

While the president was not in attendance, Witkoff was, along with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, PayPal mafia member Keith Rabois, crypto billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson and Dr. Oz.

From the Trump administration, crypto and AI czar David Sacks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent were spotted, as well as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In September, the Executive Branch will open to its new members with a $150,000 initiation fee and annual dues of $15,000.

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