Vice President J.D. Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller arrived at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station on Wednesday to view the progress of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown.
The three officials walked through the main entrance of the landmark train station as the administration’s sweeping crime crackdown in the nation’s capital has led to over 550 arrests. Officials have arrested individuals who have committed crimes such as homicide and drug possession, and even detained an MS-13 member on Tuesday.
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Vance told reporters that Washington “obviously” has a “terrible crime problem” and called to free the nation’s capital from one of the highest murder rates in the U.S.
“You just gotta look around. Obviously D.C. has a terrible crime problem,” Vance said. “The Department of Justice has statistics to back it up, the FBI’s statistics to back it up. Just talk to a resident of this city. This beautiful, great American city. We talk about human rights. We hear these [protesters] outside screaming ‘free D.C.’ Let’s free D.C. from lawlessness. Let’s free Washington, D.C., from one of the highest murder rates in the entire world. Let’s free Washington, D.C. so young families can feel safe and secure. That’s what we’re trying to free D.C. from.”
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) suspended a police commander in May and began investigating whether he downplayed violent crime statistics in Washington. The department quietly settled a lawsuit with former Sergeant Charlotte Djossou, who alleged in 2020 that the city intentionally downgraded felonies to misdemeanors to exclude certain crimes from its public database.
The MPD claims that violent crime decreased 26% since 2024, though it excludes felony and aggravated assault from its database. The FBI’s data, which includes aggravated and felony assault, shows that violent crime only went down 10% since 2024.
Washington had the fourth highest murder rate in the U.S., according to the Rochester Institute of Technology. Two Israeli Embassy staffers and a 21-year-old congressional intern died from gunshot wounds in the nation’s capital in May and June.
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