Trump puts victims' stories at the center of move to federalize DC police

President Donald Trump’s push to federalize the city’s police force — provided for by the Constitution — was slammed by Democrats as a blatant power grab or a tyrannical means of distracting the public from failures. But, the president seemed, rather, to be personally touched by the senseless violence against the innocent victims in his press conference Monday announcing the move.

A stark contrast in perspectives was put on display just hours after the president’s announcement. As protestors demonstrated in front of the White House against the federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s police department, just blocks away, a fatal shooting became the 100th homicide this year in the nation’s capital.

These shootings, which are often characterized as random, are adding to a growing list of victims from the centers of government power to the poorest corners of the city and contributing to the public perception that crime is a major problem in the city. 

City officials and Democratic lawmakers pushed back against the president’s decision to assume control of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department by citing statistics that show drops in violent crime rates since a 2023 spike. But, that argument sidesteps the fact that there are hundreds of D.C. residents or visitors that are victims of homicides each year, even if those official rates are declining. 

As of today, the federal district’s murder rate remains among the highest in the nation.

Highlighting the victims

The president highlighted that fact at Monday’s press conference and cited a handful of recent victims to hammer home that point. 

“And you people are victims of it too,” Trump said at a Monday press conference in the White House. “You know you’re reporters, and I understand a lot of you tend to be on the liberal side, but you don't want to get you…don't want to get mugged and raped and shot and killed. And you all know people and friends of yours that that happened.” 

He later pointed to the killing of a former government official who served during President Trump’s first term, Mike Gill, who was shot in a carjacking in downtown D.C. in February last year.  

“A former Trump administration official named Mike Gill—fantastic person—was murdered last year in cold blood in a carjacking blocks away from the White House,” Trump said. “We all knew him, a great person, waiting for his wife as she was walking to the car.” 

According to police, Gill was sitting inside his vehicle in the 900 block of K Street, a prominent boulevard in the federal district, home to lobbying shops and high-powered law firms. “His sudden departure has left a void in our lives that can never be filled,” Gill’s wife Kristina said in a statement at the time. During the Trump administration, Gill worked as the chief of staff for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency. 

The gunman, 28-year-old Artell Cunningham, entered Gill's vehicle and shot him. The attack on Gill was part of a carjacking rampage by Cunningham that later claimed at least two more victims. Cunningham was later shot by Maryland police after fleeing Washington to continue his crime spree. 

Only 23% feel "very safe"

Despite the city’s official statistics, D.C. residents at large seem to perceive the same crime problem that President Trump decries. 

A May 2024 Washington Post-Schar School poll of residents found 65% of city inhabitants believe that crime is an “extremely serious” or “very serious” problem, a ten-point increase from the year prior. The data also show the number of residents who feel “somewhat safe” in their neighborhoods is declining, with only 23% feeling “very safe.”  

That poll also found that a whopping one in ten D.C. residents said that they had been a victim of crime in the prior five years. That ratio, the Post noted, was similar to responses in its 1993 poll at the height of the crack epidemic and homicide crime wave.

The president also pointed to the death of a college student who was the victim of a shooting last month. Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, from Granby, Massachusetts, was working in D.C. as an intern in the office of Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. A rising senior at the University of Massachusetts, Tarpinian-Jachym would not return home after he was hit in a drive-by shooting near the Convention Center in downtown Washington. 

The Metropolitan Police Department said multiple suspects exited a vehicle in the vicinity and “began firing at a group.” Tarpinian-Jachym and two others were hit. The young intern died at the hospital the next day. Though the vehicle was ultimately found, no arrests have been made. Police don’t believe that Tarpinian-Jachym was the intended target of the attack. 

But the problems extend far beyond the downtown core of the capital city, where lawmakers, businessmen, and politics dominate. In the Southeast corner of Washington, D.C., home to one of the poorest groups of neighborhoods in the district, violence is a near-regular occurrence. 

Disproportionate number of victims on racial and economic grounds

The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform reported in 2021 that in the District, about 96 percent of victims in both homicides and nonfatal shootings were Black, despite Black residents comprising only 46 percent of the overall population in the District.

This fact of life on the mean streets of D.C. has given Trayon White, a Democratic D.C. Councilman, a more open mind to President Trump’s plans than his fellow party members and local officials.

“Trump is not totally wrong on this one as long as citizens' rights are not violated, and we get the other services. Police alone can’t end crime,” White said. He represents the area designated as Ward 8 in Southeast D.C., home to the historic, and crime-ridden, Anacostia neighborhood. Anacostia was home to one of the highest concentrations of violent crime during the 2023 spike. 

“I have never seen this many women and kids shot in our community, ever! It was not popular opinion [sic], but over 2 years ago I called for additional support in DC after 922 were people [sic] shot in dc in 1 year, not just law enforcement but resources,” White continued. 

“I understand that Trump is doing this now after a staffer was assaulted, but just weeks ago I visited baby A’Zouri who was 1 year old and shot. On July 4, 2025, Baby Honesty, who was 3 years old, was killed. Last week, we had 5 people shot around here, including a shooting in Navy Yard last night,” he said, listing off recent shootings that have impacted the Southeast corner of the district. 

A’zouri and Honesty are two toddlers who were both victims of shootings in Southeast D.C., in or near the area White represents in the city government. 

A’Zouri, a one-year-old girl, barely survived a drive-by shooting in late July. Three people drove by and opened fire near where the child was sitting outside her home in the Washington Highlands neighborhood. She was struck by two bullets and severely wounded in the attack, which police said was likely intended for someone else. The shooting put A’zouri in the hospital in critical condition where she was slated to receive multiple surgeries. 

Infants are easy and tragic targets

“For her to go through this is just insane,” A’zouri’s mother told NBC 4 Washington. “She’s only a baby and hasn't even grown up yet.”

Honesty Cheatle, a three-year-old, was shot and killed in the capital city in the early morning hours of July 5, capping an Independence Day holiday marred by at least three other shootings. Police arrested a suspect in connection with the murder, Charles Rucker, a few days later. The police said surveillance video shows Rucker specifically targeted the Cheatle family car, walking up to it and firing inside the parked vehicle multiple times. Honesty was the only person hit.

Cheatle’s family told ABC 7 News after the arrest that they were frustrated with the city’s response to the toddler’s death. 

“No one has reached out, no one’s said: 'It's going to be okay, we’re going to do something to make it better, we’re putting cameras up or whatever,' nothing, nobody,” Honesty's uncle, Raymond Cheadle, told the outlet. “Not councilmembers […] No, we haven't heard from anyone, and it's sad, sad.”