DOGE staffer beaten severely in Washington DC, Trump threatens to federalize city in response.

 

Donald Trump with Elon Musk, both of whom commented on the story. Politico/Getty.

A DOGE staffer was beaten severely in Washington DC prompting President Trump to threaten to federalize the city in response. Politico. Edward Coristine, known by his somewhat unfortunate internet name "Big Balls", found a group of teenaged youths harassing his girlfriend. When he went to defend her from the harassment he was beaten severely to the point he was concussed. 10 individuals were involved in the attack while two 15 year olds were arrested by police. The attack caused outrage in the Trump administration with both Trump and former DOGE head Elon Musk commenting on the case. 

President Trump called for charging teens as adults and federalizing the city of Washington DC in response to the assault. The Hill. Trump said that the teenage attackers had no fear of police as "nothing ever happens to them". Trump said that the law had to be changed so violent attackers should be charged as adults. If no law was passed, Trump said he would use an executive order to take control of the city and fight the crime. Crime has decreased in Washington DC, but the attack on Coristine has brought the issue back into the limelight. 

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

My Comment:

It's insane to me that I am writing a serious post about a guy that goes by "Big Balls". To be fair, he earned his nickname as it does indeed require testicular fortitude to protect your girlfriend from a pack of wild feral teens. He got the hell beaten out of him, but he did indeed protect his girlfriend and that take courage. 

It's also kind of absurd that this incident could lead to actual consequences. Trump has talked about federalizing Washington DC before but this time it is personal for him. I am guessing Trump knows Coristine personally and probably likes the young man. To see him beat up probably did have an effect on him and he wants to do something to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. 

I do think that Trump is right and a lot of criminals out there no longer fear police action. Let's be honest, this case has a major racial aspect as the attackers are almost certainly black while Coristine is white. I am guessing this is due to the Black Lives Matter effect where many criminals realized that they would have free reign to do whatever they want. Things have changed a bit under Trump, but we still have a long way to go. 

Will Trump federalize DC? I am not sure. Supposedly he gets along well enough with DC's Mayor, Muriel Bowser, and I am not sure that some kind of deal would be made. I don't know exactly what it would take to change the law in DC so that Trump gets what he wants, violent teenage criminals being charged as adults, but I think it's possible a deal will be made. 

If not, it does sure like Trump will federalize DC. If he does he will be able to push through whatever crime laws he wants and might be able to clean up the city. It is a tragedy that the nation's capital is such a mess. And it has been since I was a kid, I went there as a child and even when we were there a Japanese tourist wandered into the wrong part of town and was shot and killed. 

Either way, I do think that the argument over crime is pretty much settled. The BLM model of crime management has proven to be a disaster and folks are absolutely allowed to do whatever they want. What is needed is a crackdown. I remember in my college days we discussed both "broken windows" policing (where police crack down on small crimes to prevent bigger ones) and "community orientated" policing (where police work to integrate themselves with the community so they have better intel and response). Both of those theories have their downsides and consequences, but either of them would work a lot better than just letting criminals run around unpoliced because everyone is afraid of being called racist. 

Finally, as an aside, it does seem like the Donald Trump/Elon Musk relationship has been repaired a bit. Obviously, having someone they both worked with and like beaten up by a bunch of thugs is a good reason to bury the hatchet. Hopefully that means that Musk is, if not back on MAGA's side entirely, at least willing to talk to Trump and work with him on issues they both agree on.