The interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, promised to "flood the federal district court" with gun prosecutions in a shift from handling most such cases in local Superior Court, the Washington Post reports. Martin dubbed his initiative "Make D.C. Safe Again" by charging gun cases in a court with harsher penalties targets felons in illegal possession of a firearm and repeat violent offenders. Martin said the plan will be supported by about a dozen additional federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Monday’s move resumed an effort that was scaled back during the pandemic amid resource limitations and criticism of racial profiling in enforcement. It also marked a step toward delivering on this vision seven weeks into a tumultuous period overseeing the nation’s largest federal prosecutor’s office that saw him fire or demote many prosecutors who work on violent crime.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he objected to the catchphrase “Make D.C. Safe Again,” given the downturn in violent crime the city was already seeing. Although homicides in D.C. have ticked up so far this year after a steep decline in 2024, police statistics show, violent crime overall remains down across-the-board in keeping with national trends. Two D.C. police officials and two prosecutors from Martin’s office who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations said that Martin’s recent personnel changes would hurt authorities’ ability to deliver on his plans. He has fired prosecutors who investigated Trump and the Capitol riot, prompted the resignation of the head of the office’s criminal division and dropped several hundred pardoned Capitol riot police assault cases. Last week, he demoted seven top prosecutors — including two who oversaw federal gun prosecutions, Melissa Jackson and Meredith Mayer-Dempsey. Felons found in possession of a firearm or those convicted of furnishing a gun to such “prohibited persons” face up to 10 years in prison under federal law. In D.C. Superior Court, the comparable local offense carries a 10-year maximum sentence and increases to 15 years for violent criminals.
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