Two 15-year-olds were back in court Tuesday for sentencing. Here’s what happened.
WASHINGTON — Two teenagers at the center of the assault which triggered President Donald Trump’s federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department and the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. were in back in court Tuesday.
A 15 year-old-boy and a 15-year-old girl, whom WUSA9 has agreed not to name, were accused of assaulting a Department of Government Efficiency staffer on Aug. 3.
On Tuesday, the 15-year-old boy was sentenced to 12 months probation. The girl pleaded guilty to simple assault and will serve nine months probation, according to a judge.; her lawyer had asked for four-and-a-half months.
Trump has long suggested crime and violence are on the rise in Washington, and has criticized things like litter and graffiti. But the catalyst for the order to increase police presence was the August assault on the DOGE employee. The victim, Edward Coristine, was among the most visible figures of DOGE, which was tasked with cutting jobs and slashing the federal bureaucracy.
“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,” Trump posted on Truth Social back in August.
Since then, numerous National Guard members and federal agents rolled into the District from several states. Trump’s emergency crime order expired in September, but National Guard troops remain in D.C.
Corsitine was in the courtroom via web conference on Tuesday. In a statement, he thanked the courts and DC Police, and said to the teens, “I hope you can figure things out and be ready for the consequences.”
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