Former Department of Government Efficiency staffer Edward Coristine was badly beaten by a group of teenagers during an attempted carjacking in Washington D.C.’s Logan Circle neighborhood in the early morning hours of August 3. The 19-year-old software engineer got a broken nose and concussion after being attacked by about 10 young people at around 3 a.m. while walking a female friend to her car.
Coristine said the situation got worse quickly when the group of teenagers showed up across the street and started shouting at him and his friend. Knowing they were in danger, he rushed his friend into the driver’s seat where she locked herself inside the car before the attackers came closer. Police reports say the suspects talked about taking the car before they started attacking him.
Speaking on Jesse Watters Primetime, Coristine talked about what happened that night. “They’re just a few feet away and they slammed me against the car,” he said, according to Fox News. “They started throwing a bunch of punches. I keep my hands up. Luckily, the whole thing didn’t last too long.” He said the police showed up quickly and that stopped things from getting worse. He was lucky to get away with only a broken nose and concussion.
Guilty plea and ongoing legal case
Last week, a 15-year-old from Hyattsville, Maryland pleaded guilty in juvenile court to felony assault, simple assault, robbery and attempted robbery for what happened that night. Two 15-year-olds were arrested at the scene after police officers who were nearby stepped in, which made the group run away on foot. But several suspects are still out there, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.
President Donald Trump reacted strongly to the attack. He shared a photo of the bloodied former DOGE employee on Truth Social in August. Trump said D.C. crime was “totally out of control” and went after what he called a broken justice system. “Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump wrote.
The attack made Trump threaten federal control of Washington D.C. He also pushed for trying minors as young as 14 as adults. The incident led to more federal law enforcement officers in the capital, with Trump ordering them to stay there for at least seven days after the attack.
Even with all the talk about crime in D.C., Metropolitan Police Department numbers show violent crime in the nation’s capital dropped 26% in the first seven months of 2025 compared to the same time in 2024. The data shows D.C. hit its lowest violent crime level in over 30 years in 2024.
Published: Sep 30, 2025 02:56 pm