President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an initiative on Friday to curb the soaring crime rates in the Democrat-controlled city of Washington, DC, just as the 2024 presidential election cycle swings into focus.
The timing of the initiative suggests the Biden administration recognizes soaring crime as a political vulnerability for the Democrat party.
Crime in the Democrat-controlled city spiked in 2023, according to police department data:
- Homicides: Up 35 percent
- Robberies: Up 67 percent
- Violent Crime: Up 39 percent
- Motor Vehicle Theft: Up 82 percent
In response, Biden’s DOJ will allocate additional federal prosecutors, agents, analysts, and other resources to tamp down the crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in a press release Friday. “This surge in law enforcement resources will build on the Department’s efforts to target the individuals and organizations that are driving violent crime in the nation’s capital,” he said.
Residents in the District blame Biden-appointed U.S. attorney Matthew Graves for the crime surge. Graves refused to prosecute 67 percent of those arrested who would have been put on trial in the D.C. Superior Court, according to 2022 District statistics. In 2023, he did not prosecute 56 percent of those arrested.
Graves’ track record in court prosecuting cases before the D.C. Court of Appeals is not much better, he admitted in October, although he blamed the court with a majority of Democrat-appointed justices for the lack of convictions. The D.C. Court of Appeals is made up of nine justices appointed by Democrat presidents and five appointed by Republican presidents. President Joe Biden appointed three.
“We have been surgically targeting and prosecuting those driving violence within our community,” Graves said Friday. “The surge of resources to these efforts will allow us to continue to expand on these efforts and to take even more drivers of violence off our streets.”
Much of the crime is carried out by juveniles. For instance, 65 percent of those arrested for carjacking are juveniles, according to police data. In the first ten months of 2023, 760 carjackings occurred.
Graves said in August that his office would crack down on some crimes committed by juveniles, but his office generally does not prosecute them. Because the D.C. juvenile court maintains jurisdiction over delinquent acts, prosecutors in juvenile court must file a petition to transfer juveniles to criminal court for prosecution as adults. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then prosecutes the juveniles in the adult system from a statutory list of serious crimes. Graves has the first right of refusal to accept the petitioned case.
Whether Democrat-appointed Graves or judges are responsible for the District’s soft-on-crime position, former President Donald Trump vowed to restore law and order if reelected. Sharing a Breitbart News exclusive in October titled “D.C. Residents Fear Crime Surge Turning Area into U.S. War Zone,” the former president called the town run by Democrats a “dirty, crime ridden death trap,” pledging that reforms will be a part of his reelection platform.
RELATED — Rep. Cuellar on D.C. Carjacking: ‘Young Punks with Guns’ Stole My Car, Phone, and Sushi
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.