All 18 Suspects In D.C. Prosecutor's Gun Crime Initiative Are Black

Police arrested one Washington, D.C., man after officers saw a gun fall out of his pocket as he walked from a liquor store. They charged another who was smoking a blunt and ran away when police approached him; he, too, was carrying a gun. Three more were taken into custody after officers stopped their vehicle, searched it and found three firearms along with red Solo cups and an open bottle of tequila. The five men, who were convicted felons before their recent encounters with law enforcement, face federal firearms charges, swept up in interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin’s “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative pledging to get guns off the streets. Martin boasted on social media and in a community meeting that his office had charged 18 felons with federal gun possession crimes in the month since he announced his plans, more than double the number charged in the same month a year ago. All 18 are Black men, the Washington Post confirmed through court records and charging documents, fueling criticism by residents and defense attorneys that Martin’s plans are putting the city back on a path of targeting racial minorities as D.C. is experiencing a sharp decline in violent crime.

D.C.’s federal court sentenced an average of four people a month for firearms charges in the nine years ending with 2023, the latest data available from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Of those, 93 percent were Black. None of the 18 was charged with violent crimes alongside the recent gun charges. A similar initiative launched in 2020 was revealed to have targeted Black neighborhoods. The plan focuses on felons, who aren’t allowed to carry guns. Martin says there’s a link between violent crime and illegal gun possession, so he’s ordering prosecutors to make every felony gun possession case a federal one. Moving the cases from superior court to federal court brings the prospect of longer prison sentences, which Martin says will keep criminals off the streets. The shift to federal court would also prevent people 24 and younger from qualifying for the District’s Youth Rehabilitation Act, which results in a lighter sentence and potentially having the case sealed after they’re released.