The incident in question happened early Sunday morning. A woman in a car was approached by some teenagers who demanded she hand over her car. A bystander saw what was happening and got involved. He wound up being beaten bloody by a group of teens but stopped the carjacking attempt. This afternoon, President Trump highlighted this case on Truth Social saying crime in the city is out of control because teens aren’t held accountable. His post also included a photo of the man who was beaten up.
Trump’s post ended with a threat to “FEDERALIZE” the city.
Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see. If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore. Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Shortly after Trump posted that, Elon Musk quoted it and added that the person who’d been attacked was a DOGE team member, though he didn’t name them.
A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC.
A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her.
It is time to federalize DC. pic.twitter.com/RPHKj7J3ti
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 5, 2025
And shortly after that one of the man’s friend’s posted that he’d taken the photo. He identified the DOGE employee was Edward Coristine, aka “Big Balls” who made a lot of news when he was with DOGE. He describes the group Coristine fought with as “8 thugs.”
My friend Big Balls (@as400495) is a hero. I took this photo after Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by 8 thugs near Dupont Circle. Violence like this in the heart of DC is completely unacceptable. https://t.co/ELShlkXYaS
— Marko Elez (@marko_elez) August 5, 2025
Some parts of this story have already been confirmed by police. There was a carjacking attempt and two teens from Maryland have been arrested.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, suspects approached victims standing next to a car in the 1400 block of Swann Street NW about 3 a.m. Sunday. The suspects demanded the car, then assaulted one victim.
The suspects fled when an MPD cruiser pulled into the block, police said. Two of the suspects — a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl from Hyattsville, Maryland — were taken into custody and charged with unarmed carjacking.
D.C. Fire and EMS responded and treated the assault victim at the scene, police said.
“No one who lives, works or visits D.C. should experience this; it is horrific and disturbing,” D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said in a statement. “I cannot comment on specific cases, but know that when MPD brings us cases with sufficient evidence of juveniles who have broken the law and hurt people, we will prosecute them and ensure they face consequences for their actions.”
Notice the statement never says how many suspects were involved in the brawl but it does say “two of the suspects” which indicates there were more than two initially. All of them ran and so far only two of them have been caught.
The Washington Post is connecting Trump’s message about the attack to a visit by Jeanine Pirro to the White House today.
Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital, spoke with Trump about D.C. crime Tuesday, she said in a video posted to her X account. “Our job is to get guns off the street, drugs off the street, take care of those individuals who are threatening, carjacking other people and make this city safe and clean again,” Pirro said as she stood outside the White House. “That’s just what we’re going to do. And if you don’t buy into it, you’re going to have to deal with us.”
Tim Lauer, a spokesperson for Pirro, declined to comment on the Coristine case, saying it was not handled by the U.S. attorney’s office. Lauer also declined to confirm whether Pirro had flagged the case to Trump during their meeting on Tuesday.
Here’s the video Pirro posted in which she does mention carjacking in the city.
President Trump wants me to relay a message to you about crimes in the nation’s capital pic.twitter.com/zvT5YqpaAC
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) August 5, 2025
Several stories note that violent crime is down 26% in DC so far this year. Nevertheless, Fox News notes there have been a number of violent incidents involving government staffers and interns.
The most recent attack came after a House staffer in May was the victim of an armed carjacking in Navy Yard.
The same month, affiliate FOX 5 D.C. reported that a large group of teens took over a Navy Yard park, leading to several arrests and one hospitalization.
In July, congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, a 16-year-old boy and a woman were shot in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting. Tarpinian-Jachym later died.
In April, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was walking to the Navy Yard Metro Station when his staff member told him a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority police officer had been stabbed in the face.
It sounds like Big Balls really lived up to his name in this case. Hopefully we’ll get more information on this in the coming days. So far it doesn’t seem there is any video from the scene but that may change.
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