Trump proposes returning death penalty to D.C.

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch
The Center Square

Capital punishment could be returning to Washington, D.C., as President Donald Trump announced during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

“Anybody murders in the capital? Capital punishment. Capital—capital punishment. If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty. That’s a very strong preventative,” Trump told reporters and members of his cabinet.

The president’s announcement comes on the heels of local reports that the district broke a nearly two-week streak without a homicide in the nation’s capital after the president announced “Liberation Day,” declaring a crime emergency.

During the president’s “Liberation Day” announcement at the White House on Aug. 11, the White House released a fact sheet showing the district’s 2024 murder rate per 100,000 in comparison to other nations’ capitals. America led the pack, nearly double second-place Bogota, Columbia; followed by Mexico City, Mexico; and Islamabad, Pakistan.

Washington, D.C. City Council repealed the death penalty in 1981, and the district residents voted against capital punishment in 1992 in a referendum ordered by Congress, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

The president invoked the D.C. Home Rule Act, deploying the National Guard and increasing federal law enforcement officers to patrol the streets, citing “out of control” violence.

Since Aug. 11, the D.C. Police Union has calculated major decreases in crimes, including 83% drops in carjackings, 46% decreases in robberies, 22% drops in violent crime, 21% decreases in car theft, and 6% drops in property crime. The group adds that there has been an 8% reduction in crime overall.

Despite vocal critics of the move and protests calling for D.C. statehood and to “Free D.C.,” a Harvard CAPS/Harris poll released Monday shows that 54% of voters support Trump’s actions in D.C., considering them “justified and necessary,” including 28% of Democrats and 47% of independents.

The poll also shows that 56% of voters believe the “typical” large cities are unsafe, specifically New York City (63%) and Los Angeles (62%).

The last execution carried out in Washington, D.C. was in 1957, when Robert Carter was convicted of killing an off-duty police officer. One of the most famous executions in history was carried out in Washington, D.C. in 1865 when the military hanged Mary Surratt for conspiring in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.