Case Explained: Trump’s crime crackdown credited for historic drop in DC murder rates – Legal Perspective

WASHINGTON (7News) — A White House official told 7News that President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown is working, with murder rates falling to the lowest level since 1900.

“The Trump administration remains committed to relentlessly pursuing violent criminals and the worst of the worst illegal aliens to remove them from our communities and Make America Safe Again,” said White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston.

According to a White House official, the Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful task force has so far arrested 9,137 violent fugitives, including 25 for homicide, 1,509 for narcotics, 774 for weapons offenses, 31 for sex offenses and 52 known gang members. The task force has also seized 924 illegal firearms.

“The results are actually palpable,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told 7News Reporter Nick Minock on Tuesday regarding the President’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C.

“I mean, you can feel it, and you can see it on the street right now. Because of the surge that the President created in August of 2025, we have seen an incredible reduction in crime. People are able to go out on the street and not be assaulted by some of the young crews that are out there committing violent crimes, possessing guns, shooting at each other. Homicides are now down 60%. Violent crime is down more than 30%. We’ve made more than 9,050 arrests with 917 guns seized off the street. That means those guns can no longer be used in carjackings, robberies, or homicides. There is a tremendous difference in Washington, D.C. now. And in terms of my office, we are prosecuting more cases than we’ve ever prosecuted, than have ever been prosecuted in the history of this District. We are listening to the police. We are taking their arrest, and we are prosecuting those cases,” Pirro said.

“Now my predecessor in the Biden administration didn’t prosecute 60% of the crime,” Pirro added. “It’s no surprise that under the Biden administration, crime was out of control, and that it took someone who simply believed in law and order, who understands what it takes to stop crime and to have the incredible results that we’re having right now. And we’re working across the aisle, work with Mayor Bowser, work with the police chiefs, all of the Capitol chiefs, the federal law enforcement partners, and we’re making a big difference.”

On Thursday, Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force officers executed 40 arrests and seized 9 illegal firearms.

A White House Official told 7News Melvin Lee was arrested on a warrant for first-degree murder while armed, stemming from a March 22, 2024, incident in which an argument between Lee and the victim led to Lee shooting the victim three times, resulting in the victim’s death. After the shooting, Lee robbed the victim, the official said.

Also on Thursday, Lawrence Perryman was arrested for first-degree murder and cruelty to children after Perryman’s 17-month-old grandchild died from a combination of diphenhydramine and methadone toxicity while in his care, the official told 7News.

Officers made 39 arrests on Wednesday, which involved five juveniles, and the task force seized five firearms, the White House official told 7News.

In addition, two juveniles were arrested on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle, theft, fleeing to elude, and reckless driving.

A White House official said officers initiated a traffic stop after observing a vehicle bearing no front tag and a counterfeit rear tag, the vehicle fled from the officers and led them on a prolonged pursuit through D.C. and Maryland before both juveniles eventually abandoned the vehicle and attempted to evade officers on foot.

The official said officers quickly arrested one of the juveniles after a brief foot pursuit. The other was arrested after a U.S. Park Police helicopter used thermal imaging to locate the juvenile’s heat signature in a wooded area, leading officers to his precise location and arrest, the official added.

The official said the vehicle was identified as stolen following the pursuit.

At the White House on Tuesday, Minock asked Pirro what laws she would like to see changed as she continues to prosecute crimes in the District.

READ | Victim denies Fairfax County prosecutor’s claims that she agreed with ‘lenient’ plea deal

“I’d like to see the age lowered,” said Pirro. “I’d like to see this Youth Rehabilitation Act, which is nothing more than cover for kids who are responsible for violent crimes, to be eliminated. I’d like the Incarceration Reduction Act, passed by the DC Council, to be eliminated. That means that if you’re under the age of 25 and you commit one, two or three murders, you automatically are released at the end of 15 years, instead of getting life for one murder. You could be out in 15 years for three. This whole mentality is backwards.”

SEE ALSO | Victims, lawmakers, and law enforcement express concerns about Fairfax’s top prosecutor

Across the Potomac River in Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office has been under fire from community members and members of Congress.

7News has reported on several cases where Descano has dropped charges and has given lenient plea deals to illegal immigrants who have committed serious crimes in Fairfax County.

Descano’s written policy takes immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions, which has allowed several illegal immigrants to walk free.

RELATED | House committee criticizes Fairfax County sheriff, prosecutor for sanctuary policies

“Illegals who are cut loose and then allowed to commit crimes again, that is something that shouldn’t be happening,” said Pirro. “The American people don’t want that. The President doesn’t want that. And you know, we have a focus in our office where there’s an issue, many times, do we prosecute or do we just deport? If it’s a violent crime, we’re going to send them to jail, prosecute them, and then deport them, have them serve some jail time.”

Top members who serve on the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary said their committee is conducting oversight of state and local jurisdictions.

They argue that American communities are endangered through jurisdictions’ refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Last week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Chairman of the subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Tom McClintock wrote letters to Descano and to Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid detailing the committee’s concerns about their refusal to work with federal immigration officials.

Jordan and McClintock told Descano and Kincaid that their “pro-illegal alien policies have deadly consequences.”

Last month, when the Fairfax County sheriff ignored an ICE detainer and released an illegal immigrant back into the community, the accused MS-13 gang member allegedly murdered a man the next day.

The Republicans also blasted Descano for his handling of the Morales-Ortez case, writing, “Your office’s recent actions to drop additional charges against Morales-Ortez paved the way for Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid to refuse to honor an ICE detainer and release him into the community. One day later, Morales-Ortez allegedly murdered a man in Reston, Virginia, and has now been charged with second-degree murder.”

Last weekend, shortly after Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as Virginia’s new governor, she signed an executive order reversing Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that required state police and corrections officers to work with ICE to locate, arrest, and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records.

“I think it’s really disappointing, and I think that Virginia residents should be worried that they have a governor who is openly saying that she is going to work against the Trump administration’s effort to remove criminal illegal aliens from the country,” said Abigail Jackson, the White House Deputy Press Secretary. “The type of criminal illegal aliens that we are going after in targeted enforcement operations are those with additional convictions for things like assault, rape, murder. You have heard about all kinds of stories just in Virginia of these criminal illegal aliens that we have been able to successfully arrest and remove, and I would just say, why would anyone want to stop working with the Trump administration to remove these individuals from their communities?”

7News reached out to Kincaid and Descano for comment on House Republicans’ investigation. They have not responded.

Spanberger said in her inaugural speech, “In Virginia, our hard-working, law-abiding immigrant neighbors will know that when we say that we will focus on the security and safety of all of our neighbors, we mean them too.”

When she signed the immigration executive order on Saturday, Spanberger added, “State and local law enforcement should not be required to divert their limited resources to enforce federal civil immigration laws.”