District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Kendra Briggs was quite understanding with the 15-year-old who had pepper-sprayed a man while a friend pummeled him, and while others in her group tried to steal his car. The young perpetrator has had a difficult life, Briggs noted. "I know you are not unfamiliar to trauma," the judge said. "I don't disagree that the trauma you've already suffered in life is kind of how you ended up on U Street that day."
A picture of the victim, sitting on the ground, shirtless, bloody, ribs broken, had gone viral on the internet. The reason for that was because he was Edward Coristine, a young Trump administration staffer who had received attention for his work on the DOGE project. President Donald Trump himself posted the photo. "Crime in Washington, DC is totally out of control," Trump wrote. "Local 'youths' and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16 years old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent citizens, at the same time knowing that they will almost immediately be released." The Coristine attack was one of the reasons Trump began the ongoing crime crackdown in Washington.
A Metropolitan Police report of the attack noted that "ten juveniles" surrounded Coristine's car. A woman who was with Coristine managed to get inside the car and lock the doors, while Coristine stayed outside to try to fend off the attackers. When police noticed what was happening, they jumped out of their own cars to approach, and the attackers scattered. Officers were able to catch two of them -- the 15 year-old girl, who did the pepper spraying, and a 15-year-old boy, who did the beating.
This week, the girl pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault. Briggs took note of the girl's difficult life -- "the trauma you've already suffered in life is kind of how you ended up on U Street that day." But Briggs added, "I think you also have to think about the trauma that you're inflicting on others when you engage in the activities that you all chose to engage in a couple of months ago." Those activities, the judge said, included "terroriz[ing] U Street."
Briggs sentenced the girl to nine months' probation. It was an easy sentence -- no jail, just wearing an electronic ankle monitor -- because the judge said the court's goal "is rehabilitation, not punishment."
The 15-year-old boy got an even better deal. Briggs sentenced him to 12 months' probation even though he pleaded guilty to four counts -- attempted robbery and simple assault on Coristine and "felony assault and robbery at a nearby gas station shortly before," in the words of a Washington Post account. (Some of the details of what was said inside the courtroom come from the Post story; the paper said it "was granted access to the hearing on the condition that it not disclose any details that could identify the teens.")
The two no-jail sentences were the work of the judge but also of local prosecutors, who, the Post reported, "had not asked the judge to commit either teen." Those local prosecutors are not the hard-on-crime federal prosecutors in the district under U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro that you have probably read about. In this case, the Washington Post said, "the judge's sentence in each case reflected prosecutors' requests."
As it turned out, everything Trump predicted turned out to be correct. The perpetrators -- at least the two out of 10 who were caught -- were indeed 15 years old. And they were immediately released and will not serve any time, including the boy who had committed assault and robbery shortly before attacking Coristine.
Not surprisingly, Trump called Briggs' decision "terrible" and said she "should be ashamed." White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, while noting Pirro's efforts in the federal office, said, "One of the big issues in D.C. is these juveniles. They just get a slap on the wrist. They say you need rehabilitation, not incarceration. This administration has a completely different philosophy. We need law and order, period. If you commit a crime, you're going to face consequences. If you commit a violent crime, you are going to see jail time."
So this case is over. Now, where will the two perpetrators in this single incident -- one of many such attacks in the city -- end up? One can't predict individual cases, but it is true that the District of Columbia has an appalling recidivism rate among juvenile offenders. A report last year from News4 Washington noted that D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb -- the prosecutor who has been resisting Trump anti-crime efforts -- said 92% of juveniles convicted of serious crimes go on to reoffend. The 15-year-old boy who committed felony assault and robbery, and then attempted robbery and simple assault, all in one evening in August, is already well on his way. He might have other crimes on his record, as well, but they would be kept confidential as long as he is a juvenile. The 15-year-old girl's record is also not public, although the Post account noted that she has a "pending matter in Maryland."
Just this week, police arrested two more suspects in the Coristine attack. They are 18 and 19 years old, meaning their cases will be handled in the adult justice system. Pirro's prosecutors have charged them with attempted carjacking, first-degree robbery, and assault with intent to commit robbery.
In the big picture, the case shows that it is a good thing that Trump decided to highlight the issue of crime. It eats away at quality of life in cities around the country. It has led to a ridiculous criminal-processing system, like in the district, that essentially helps direct a steady flow of new offenders into society. And it makes a mockery of the idea of justice. Trump should receive credit for any effort to break up that system.
This content originally appeared on the Washington Examiner at washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/3853264/doge-staffer-attack-trump-dc-crime-crackdown/.
(Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. Email him at byork@washingtonexaminer.com. For a deeper dive into many of the topics Byron covers, listen to his podcast, The Byron York Show, available on the Ricochet Audio Network at ricochet.com/series/byron-york-show and everywhere else podcasts are found.)