Trump Seeks Federal Death Penalty For DC Murders

President Trump announced that his administration will seek the death penalty for all murder cases in Washington, D.C., as part of a broader crackdown on crime in the capital. Despite the death penalty being abolished in D.C. decades ago—nullified by the Supreme Court in 1972, repealed locally in 1981, and rejected by residents in a 1992 referendum—Trump emphasized the measure as a strong deterrent and insisted there is no choice but to pursue it. Since early August, federal law enforcement and the National Guard have been deployed to Washington, with over 1,000 arrests made, including gang members, and a reduction in reported homicides until a recent shooting. Trump linked the policy to public safety concerns, referencing an assault on a journalist and asserting that the death penalty is necessary to prevent violent crime. The move represents an unprecedented assertion of federal authority over D.C.'s criminal justice policies, which traditionally fall under local jurisdiction. This initiative has sparked debate given the legal history of capital punishment in the district and its current prohibition.