U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. Jeanine Pirro unloaded on a reporter Tuesday who attempted to downplay the rampant crime spreading throughout the nation’s capital.
The media have largely cited the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) data alleging crime in Washington has dropped 35% since 2024, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s statistics (FBI) and other data say otherwise. A reporter attempted to stump Pirro by accusing the administration of changing its tune on violent crime, prompting Pirro to say that her “ears are deaf” to anyone who claims that “crime is down.”
“It’s never enough. This changed, this changed, it’s never enough! You tell these families crime is dropping. You tell the mother of the intern who was shot going out for McDonalds near the Washington Convention Center, ‘oh, crime is down,’” Pirro said. “You tell the kid who was just beat to hell and back with a severe concussion and a broken nose, ‘crime is down.’ No, that falls on deaf ears and my ears are deaf to that and that’s why I fight the fight.”
WATCH:
Trump deployed the National Guard and federally took over the MPD on Monday to “reestablish law and order and safety” in the district. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday that 850 officers and agents made 23 arrests for crimes such as homicide, firearm offenses, stalking, possession with the intent to distribute narcotics, along with other heinous crimes on the first night of Trump’s crackdown.
FBI data shows that violent crime has dropped 10% since 2024 and remained slightly higher than in 2018. Unlike the FBI, MPD’s data on violent crime only includes homicides, sex abuse crimes, assault with a dangerous weapon and robbery, which makes it appear like violent crime decreased more than it has since 2024.
The MPD suspended its police chief in May and opened an investigation on whether he had manipulated data to reflect a larger decrease in crime. The D.C. Police Union accused the MPD in July of falsifying crime statistics to exaggerate a decrease in violent crime.
In June, a gang-related shooting killed 21-year-old congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym near a Metro station. His mother, Tamara, told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Monday that Trump’s actions in Washington means that his son “did not die in vain.”
Two Israeli officials were fatally gunned down on May 22 as they exited the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect, 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez, has just been additionally charged on Friday with two counts of first-degree murder under the Washington, D.C. criminal code and with two federal counts of hate crime resulting in death and two local counts of assault with intent to kill while armed, Pirro’s office announced on Friday.
The administration became more aggressive in their crime response after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, also known as “Big Balls,” got severely beaten after he tried to stop a carjacking on Aug. 5.
The Rochester Institute for Technology found that Washington’s murder rate in 2024 was the fourth highest in the U.S., above Chicago, New York City and Atlanta.
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