Jeanine Pirro, United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, walks out of the White House to be interviewed in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
In her capacity as a federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Donald Trump appointee and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro is aggressively promoting the president's crime policies in the U.S. capital — which include federalizing the Capital Police and deploying federalized National Guard Troops. Pirro echoes Trump's claim that violent crime is out of control in Washington, D.C., although figures show that crime is way down there.
In a September 3 column, MSNBC's Jarvis DeBerry lays out some reasons why a 19-year-old D.C. resident convicted of violent offenses left the courtroom "smiling."
"A Washington, D.C., teenager who was convicted of armed carjacking, assault and destruction of property as a juvenile subsequently went live on Instagram wearing a ski mask and holding a .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle," DeBerry explains. "The teen reportedly blew off the conditions of his probation, and, given all the talk from the Trump Administration about the city's rising crime rates and youth crime in particular, you might think a harsh reaction from his administration followed."
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DeBerry continues, "But you would be wrong — the teen was spared punishment by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro last month. Yes, the same Pirro who, like many of her colleagues, justified President Donald Trump's takeover of D.C. by decrying the prevalence of juvenile crime there."
The offender even entered a guilty plea.
"The now-19-year-old in question had most recently pleaded guilty to illegally carrying a rifle outside his home or business, The Washington Post reported Monday, (September 1), and a judge had determined that he had not reported to probation, submitted himself for drug tests or tried to get an education," DeBerry notes. "But Pirro’s office has refused to enforce a D.C. law that makes it illegal for people without permits to carry long guns outside their homes and businesses. Thus, a teen with more warning signs than a nuclear reactor was allowed to walk out of court smiling."
The MSNBC columnist continues, "Pirro's position is emblematic of the Republican Party's refusal to connect crime to guns and, indeed, its belief that places where guns are prohibited are less safe and not more so. That position, then, is a rejection of the view taken by many Democrats that the prevalence of crime is a function of the prevalence of guns. While it might not be a directly proportional relationship, it seems contrary to the evidence that there's no relationship at all."
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Jarvis DeBerry's full MSNBC column is available at this link.