Trump says he wants DOJ to seek death penalty for all DC murders: ‘Capital punishment’
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday called for the Justice Department to pursue the death penalty in all murder cases in Washington, D.C., just hours after the city’s 12-day streak without a homicide came to an end.
“Anybody murders someone in the capital — capital punishment. Capital punishment,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting, reacting to the city’s first killing since his recent crackdown on violent crime began.
“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty. That’s a very strong deterrent, and everyone who’s heard it agrees,” he added.
Washington recorded 187 homicides last year. The city hasn’t carried out an execution since 1957, and the D.C. Council formally abolished the death penalty in 1981. However, murder cases in the capital are handled by the U.S. attorney’s office — a federal agency led by Trump appointee Jeanine Pirro — rather than local prosecutors. Her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Because of this unique arrangement, federal prosecutors have more flexibility to bring federal charges in murder cases. In 2015, former D.C. U.S. Attorney Roscoe Howard Jr. explained that prosecutors could seamlessly shift a case from local to federal court if they wanted to pursue capital punishment.
“Handling local and federal crimes out of the same office has its advantages,” Howard said.
Typically, murder is prosecuted under state law. But in some high-profile cases, the federal government has pursued the death penalty even in states where it’s been abolished. One example is the case of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who received a federal death sentence in Massachusetts, a non-death penalty state.
Under federal law, murder is defined as “the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought.” Generally, federal murder charges require special circumstances — such as killings that cross state lines or occur during the commission of another federal crime, like a bank robbery.
The FBI notes on its website that murder “is not a federal offense unless, for example, a federal official is murdered while performing official functions.” It remains unclear how Trump’s proposal would navigate these legal limitations in order to impose capital punishment for all D.C. homicides.
About Post Author
