Illegal alien pedophile allegedly 'physically assaulted' ICE agent during immigration operation: DHS



A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent sustained serious injuries to his face on Monday during an immigration raid in Houston, the Department of Homeland Security reported on Thursday.

According to a DHS press release, Walter Leonel Perez Rodriguez, 33, was arrested during a Monday encounter with ICE agents in Houston.

'This young officer’s life has forever been altered as a result of the continued hyper-politicization of routine law enforcement activities and spread of misinformation by the media, NGOs, and other groups opposed to immigration enforcement.'

During the encounter, Rodriguez is "alleged to have resisted arrest and physically assaulted an ICE officer with a metal coffee cup."

The ICE officer sustained severe burns and a "deep gash" to his face that required 13 stitches.

RELATED: Illegal alien learns his fate after a Wisconsin judge allegedly helped him evade ICE

ice.gov

“This young officer’s life has forever been altered as a result of the continued hyper-politicization of routine law enforcement activities and spread of misinformation by the media, NGOs, and other groups opposed to immigration enforcement in this country,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said in a statement.

"By focusing on our officers and spreading false propaganda about how we accomplish our mission, they are emboldening dangerous illegal aliens like this child predator to physically resist arrest. This insanity has to stop before anyone else gets hurt,” Bradford added.

Rodriguez, a Salvadoran national, has a long criminal record prior to his recent arrest and charges.

The Department of Homeland Security stated Rodriguez illegally entered the U.S. "at least three times" and faced deportation in 2013 and 2020.

In addition to the immigration offenses, Rodriguez, a "pedophile and criminal illegal alien," was convicted of sexually assaulting a child, child fondling, and "multiple" DUIs, according to the DHS.

"Anyone who lays a hand on our ICE officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X.

Now in custody, Rodriguez was referred for prosecution on charges of illegal re-entry and assaulting a federal officer.

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‘Exploded All Over’: Border Patrol Agent Testifies After Viral Subway Sandwich Attack

'could smell the onions and mustard'

Make mandatory minimums great again



When victims’ advocates push for mandatory minimum sentences, the leniency lobby instantly howls about “judicial discretion.” In theory, that's right: In a just society, judges should have the freedom to weigh every case, tailoring sentences to fit the crimes.

But America doesn’t live in that society. We live in an era when violent crime floods major cities and leftist judges treat predators like misunderstood poets. In this environment, mandatory minimums aren’t cruel — they’re the only remaining safeguard for victims and the public.

It’s not enough to share viral videos of street mayhem. Lawmakers must change the laws.

Recent headlines show what happens when liberal judges turn mercy into malpractice.

  • Charlotte’s revolving door: North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Decarlos Brown Jr., the alleged murderer of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, despite his long arrest record. Her supervisor, Judge Roy Wiggins, then released Paulette Gibson, accused of stabbing two people, on just $20,000 bail — despite 15 prior arrests.
  • Fifty arrests and counting: Herbert Jordan of Charlotte, arrested Oct. 16 for assaulting a woman, had 50 prior arrests, including 10 attacks on women since 2020. He had been released just weeks earlier on $3,000 bond for another violent assault. The judge’s response this time? Raise the bond to $5,000.
  • A juvenile menace: A 15-year-old in Charlotte was reportedly arrested 111 times since 2023 — 55 vehicle thefts, 45 break-ins, multiple gun charges — and yet was released again. Police say his phone contained searches like “what is the charge for killing an officer?” and “what is capital murder?”
  • D.C.’s “rehabilitate, not punish” justice: In the District of Columbia, two teens who beat a man nearly to death during a carjacking spree were sentenced to probation. Judge Kendra D. Briggs, a Biden appointee, said her job was “to rehabilitate, not to punish.” D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced Monday that she would bring federal assault charges.
  • Florida’s near-fatal leniency: In Orange County, 23-year-old Jacoby Vontrell Tillman allegedly choked a jogger unconscious because he “wanted to know what it was like to choke someone out.” He had prior arrests for attempted murder and sexual assault, yet Judge Elaine Barbour released him on a $9,500 bond — over objections from even a left-wing prosecutor.
  • Las Vegas, 2023: Jonathan Lewis Jr., a white 17-year-old, was stomped to death by a mob of black juveniles outside Rancho High School. Prosecutors later downgraded second-degree murder charges to voluntary manslaughter and moved the case to juvenile court. The killers could be free within a few years.

These cases represent thousands of similar stories nationwide: repeat violent offenders cycling through the system, juvenile thugs shielded from real punishment, and judges who treat consequences as optional.

From ‘over-incarceration’ to under-protection

For more than a decade, both parties have joined the bipartisan delusion that America’s problem is “over-incarceration.” The result? A generation of politicians dismantled the tough-on-crime gains of the 1990s and early 2000s under the false promise of “criminal justice reform.”

Yes, some defendants have received unjustly harsh sentences. Yes, political prosecutions and overzealous prosecutors exist. But for every offender punished too severely, dozens walk free after attacking, raping, or killing. The imbalance grows worse each year.

RELATED: The city that chose crime and chaos over courage

BeyondImages via iStock/Getty Images

This “leniency-industrial complex” has replaced accountability with excuses. Its apostles treat crime as a symptom of social failure, not individual evil. Meanwhile, victims — especially women and the poor — pay the price for their moral vanity.

Time to rewrite the rules

America doesn’t need another debate about “equity” in sentencing. It needs a crime-control revolution that restores deterrence and puts fear back where it belongs — in the hearts of criminals.

That means tightening judicial discretion, strengthening mandatory minimums for repeat and violent offenders, and ending the revolving door for juvenile predators.

It’s not enough to share viral videos of street mayhem. Lawmakers must change the laws. The public’s patience — and the nation’s safety — won’t survive another decade of judicial compassion for the cruel.

Cops make progress after mob of violent, hammer-wielding thugs pull off brazen smash-and-grab robbery in broad daylight



Readers of Blaze News may recall a violent robbery caught on surveillance video a month ago in San Jose, California, during which a mob of hammer-wielding, hooded individuals smashed and grabbed their way through a jewelry store in broad daylight.

The robbery at Kim Hung Jewelry in the 1900 block of Aborn Road took place on the afternoon of Sept. 5, police said.

A niece of the 88-year-old assault victim told KNTV she is 'very, very happy' about the arrests — although her uncle won't be returning to the store for the foreseeable future as the robbery remains a 'mental crisis for him.'

The preliminary investigation revealed that a driver rammed a vehicle through the store's front entrance, after which more than 10 suspects — one of whom brandished a firearm at one adult male victim inside the business — poured inside, police said.

As the suspects stole thousands of dollars worth of items from the store, police said a second elderly adult male victim was violently assaulted. The suspects fled the scene in multiple vehicles, police said. The elderly adult male victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police added.

KNTV-TV's video report about the robbery said the assaulted 88-year-old man who was running the business also suffered a stroke.

However, detectives soon identified seven suspects: Angel Herrera, 21; Toddisha Mayfield, 31; Zakhari Blue-Gordon, 23; Tom Donegan, 19; Jacques Samuel, 18; Cisco Lutu, 18; and Amari Green, 21, police said.

Detectives obtained arrest warrants for all suspects and search warrants for their associated residences, police said.

Dublin Police arrested Samuel on Sept. 22, and he was taken to the San Francisco County Jail, police said.

On Sept. 30, Herrera was arrested in Pacifica, Mayfield was arrested in San Leandro, Blue-Gordon was arrested in San Jose, and Donegan was arrested in Manteca, police said, adding that Lutu and Green were arrested in Antioch on Oct. 2.

Mayfield, Blue-Gordon, Donegan, Lutu, and Green were booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail for robbery police said, adding that Samuel will be extradited there at a later date.

Police added that evidence of the crime was found during the execution of search warrants; detectives discovered a firearm, loaded magazine, and multiple rounds of ammunition, as well as large quantities of suspected cocaine.

Image source: San Jose (Calif.) Police

A niece of the 88-year-old assault victim told KNTV she is "very, very happy" about the arrests — although her uncle won't be returning to the store for the foreseeable future as the robbery remains a "mental crisis for him."

Those with information about this case or similar cases can contact Detective Hernandez #4392 of the San Jose Police Department Robbery Unit via email: 4392@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166, police said.

In addition, anonymous crime tips can be submitted using the P3TIPS mobile app, calling the tip line at 408-947-STOP, or on www.siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org, police said, adding that tipsters are eligible for cash rewards from the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers Program if their tips lead to arrests.

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Panhandler pushes 82-year-old woman face-first to ground, breaking her knee, after she wouldn't give him money, officials say



A Chicago panhandler pushed an 82-year-old woman face-first to the ground last month, breaking her knee, after she refused to give him money, CWB Chicago reported, citing officials.

Prosecutors said 49-year-old Dion Rance was panhandling near the drive-through of a McDonald's in the 1000 block of West Wilson Avenue around 10 a.m. Sept. 15 when the victim — who visits the restaurant for breakfast almost every day — exited the fast-food restaurant, the outlet reported.

'People in Uptown are racist and don’t give any money.'

Prosecutors added that surveillance video allegedly shows Rance following the victim along a sidewalk before shoving her in the back, CWB Chicago said, adding that the woman fell face-first upon the concrete and screamed in pain as Rance walked away.

More from CWB Chicago:

A passerby rushed to help the woman, who returned to her nearby apartment building, where a staffer called 911. She was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a fractured knee and additional injuries to her face and body from the fall, prosecutors said.

Police who reviewed the surveillance video immediately recognized Rance and placed his image into a photo lineup. But the victim, who suffers from cataracts, could not identify him, according to a detention filing.

Officers recently found Rance walking in the 5300 block of North Clark in Andersonville and took him into custody.

Prosecutors said Rance admitted to asking the woman for money but claimed he pushed her because she called him the N-word — in Chinese, the outlet noted.

Rance told officers he went to school with “a Chinese guy who taught him a lot,” CWB Chicago said, citing the detention filing.

However, a court document states that the victim speaks Japanese, the outlet noted.

RELATED: Chicago thug accused of randomly punching mother of 11 in face, knocking her out on downtown street — and White House reacts

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune

Rance also allegedly told investigators that “people in Uptown are racist and don’t give any money," CWB Chicago added.

Judge James Murphy III ordered Rance detained on charges of aggravated battery of a victim over 60 and aggravated battery in a public place, the outlet noted.

Jail records indicate Rance was booked Sept. 18 on no bond, and he remained behind bars Wednesday morning. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 10, jail records say.

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Second chances kill innocents



Republicans might finally take me seriously after years of warning: America suffers not from mass incarceration, but from mass under-incarceration. The system needs tougher sentences, not softer ones.

The brutal murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, allegedly at the hands of career criminal Decarlos Brown Jr. on a Charlotte commuter train, didn’t reveal anything new. It shocked the nation precisely because it put on camera what has become routine in our cities since the bipartisan “criminal justice reform” wave dismantled Reagan-era tough-on-crime policies.

Legislators will have a choice when they reconvene: Pass strong reforms like these or watch more innocent people die.

For every man like Brown who slipped through the cracks, at least 10 more walk free when they should be locked up for life.

Brown had been arrested 14 times since 2007. His record included assault, felony firearms possession, robbery, and larceny. He didn’t see the inside of a prison until 2014, when an armed robbery conviction earned him a mere four years. He racked up more arrests after his release in 2020, but neither prison nor psychiatric commitment followed. The justice system looked the other way.

The result was predictable. Brown’s obvious mental instability made him even more dangerous than an ordinary criminal. Yet over the last 15 years, Republicans and Democrats alike embraced “reform” that made second chances for the violent and insane a top priority. They weakened sentencing, gutted mandatory minimums, downgraded juvenile crimes, eased up on drugs and vagrancy, and abandoned broken-windows policing. Hard-won gains against crime and homelessness evaporated.

The final insult: Brown was last released on cashless bail by North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, allegedly affiliated with a pro-criminal “second chances” group. But violent offenders don’t just get second chances. They get third, fourth, and 15th chances. Most criminals never even face charges. Prosecutors downgrade cases. Convicts skate on early release. The cycle spins on.

Look at the numbers. In 2024, the FBI’s incident-based reporting system logged over 12.2 million crimes. Strip away drug and gun cases, and the picture remains grim: 2.4 million violent crimes with no arrest. Another 1.25 million serious property crimes — arson, burglary, motor vehicle theft — with no arrest. Every year, more than a million offenders escape justice. Meanwhile, the nation’s prison and jail population sits at roughly 1.9 million.

Even when police make arrests, punishment rarely follows. In 2021, only 15,604 people went to prison for robbery despite 121,000 reported incidents. Just 4,894 went away for car theft out of 550,000 cases. Even homicide convictions lag far behind — just 6,081 murderers entered prison against more than 15,000 killings.

This isn’t a statistical fluke. It’s a system that fails to punish violent crime year after year.

RELATED: Iryna Zarutska’s name should shame the woke

Screenshot/Charlotte Transit Authority

So what needs to change? Here’s a checklist every state legislature should adopt in the next session:

  1. Ban public encampments on streets, sidewalks, and public property; allow lawsuits against localities that fail to enforce.
  2. Elevate porch piracy penalties, following Florida’s lead.
  3. Impose stiff punishments for organized retail theft and flash mobs.
  4. Tighten “truth-in-sentencing” laws to ensure violent offenders serve their full terms.
  5. Pass anti-gang statutes that cross county lines, fund prosecutions, and mandate enhanced sentences for gang-related crimes.
  6. Let prosecutors, not judges, decide whether to try violent juveniles as adults.
  7. Set mandatory minimums for carjackings, especially for repeat offenders.
  8. Impose harsh sentences on felons caught with firearms, and harsher still when they use them.
  9. Require parole violators to finish their sentences.
  10. Hold repeat offenders without bond; revoke pretrial release when new crimes are committed.
  11. Fund prosecutors’ offices to clear the backlog of violent felony cases.
  12. Strengthen “three strikes” laws to eliminate loopholes.
  13. Apply the death penalty to fentanyl traffickers.
  14. Mandate quarterly public reporting of judges’ sentencing records in a searchable database.
  15. Criminalize squatting and streamline removal.

Legislators will have a choice when they reconvene: Pass strong reforms like these or watch more innocent people die.

Social media outrage won’t fix this crisis. Neither will empty calls for “accountability.” As Iryna’s grieving family warned, “This could have been anyone riding the light rail that night.”

That’s the truth — and unless lawmakers act, it will be the truth again tomorrow.

Video: Grandmother is alone on her front porch during day when male comes up, asks for directions. That's not what he wants.



Jan Fletcher, 78, was alone during the day recently when her home surveillance camera captured a young male getting off his bike, walking up her driveway, and approaching her on the porch of her south Louisville home, WLKY-TV reported.

The male asks Fletcher, "Is somebody in there? I don't want to wake them. Is somebody in there?"

Fletcher responds, "Yeah. Why?"

'She didn't deserve that.'

The station said the male was asking for directions to a well-known neighborhood park. But then he got all the way on the porch, walked behind Fletcher, and acted as though he was dusting something off her rear end.

But the situation grew scarier.

RELATED: Young girls escape molester by kicking him in the groin at Fourth of July celebration, police say

WLKY said the male repeatedly and violently groped Fletcher until she was able to stop him.

“I was so mad that it happened,” Fletcher recalled to the station during an on-camera interview. “I was thinking, 'What could I have done different?' But I don't know what I could have done differently.”

Her granddaughter Jessica Powell-Page was understandably horrified and told WLKY that "she didn't deserve that" and that the incident was "unacceptable.”

Louisville police told the station they're investigating the incident but haven't yet identified the male.

Despite the disturbing encounter, Fletcher noted to WLKY that she's lived in her neighborhood for 55 years and has felt safe — and that she's not going anywhere.

“I've been asked if I'm afraid to sit here on my porch, and I’m not,” she noted to the station defiantly. “I want him to know you're not scaring me. Absolutely not. So every day that it's nice weather, I will be on my porch.”

Louisville police told WLKY that "the elderly are often the victims of scams, harassment, and home invasion, which often start with suspicious questions at the door." Police also offered the following tips, the station said:

Trust your instincts. If a person or situation makes you feel uneasy, trust your gut feeling. Acknowledge the potential threat and take action to stay safe.
Take note of your surroundings. Pay attention to potential hiding spots for an attacker, such as alleys, doorways, large bushes, or between parked vans. When walking past these areas, give them a wide berth.
Look for warning signs. Stay alert for suspicious behaviors, like someone following you on foot or in a vehicle. If you notice this, change directions, cross the street, or enter a business to signal that you have noticed them.

WLKY added that those with information regarding the incident can offer anonymous tips at 502-574-5673.

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13-year-old with 18 felony arrests under his belt and a GPS monitor on his ankle charged in violent Baltimore crime spree



A 13-year-old male who already had 18 felony arrests on his record recently was charged in connection with a spree of armed carjackings and robberies, WBFF-TV reported, citing Baltimore Police.

Around 6:44 a.m. July 26, officers responded to an attempted carjacking, the station said. The victim reported that in the 2300 block of Guilford Street, two male juveniles exited their car and ran toward her vehicle, WBFF said. When the victim re-entered her car, the suspects entered it, too, and struck her multiple times with an unknown black object, the station said. The victim managed to reverse her car, after which the suspects fled the scene, police told WBFF.

'Bring in the troops!'

Almost 24 hours later — around 5:31 a.m. July 27 — officers were called to the scene of a carjacking in the 100 block of East Lanvale Street, the station said. The victim said a vehicle blocked her path, and three suspects exited the vehicle and demanded her keys, wallet, and phone, WBFF said. The victim complied, and the suspects drove away in her vehicle, followed by the car they drove to the scene, the station said, citing officials.

Around 8:25 p.m. July 27, an armed robbery victim told police that around 5 a.m. earlier that day while heading to a store in the 200 block of East 24th Street, three males with a handgun approached her, "announced a robbery," and took her purse, which contained money and house keys, WBFF reported.

The station said investigators on July 28 tracked the suspects' vehicle using its tag and located it — along with the stolen car — in the 500 block of Highland Avenue.

Police identified one of the suspects as a 13-year-old male in question since his ankle monitor GPS placed him at the scene of each crime, WBFF reported.

The 13-year-old was arrested and taken to juvenile booking, where he was charged with carjacking, robbery, assault, and several other offenses, officials told the station.

"The juvenile has 18 previous felony arrests in Baltimore City," police wrote on their official Facebook page, according to WMAR-TV. "The investigation is still ongoing to identify the other individuals involved."

RELATED: Bus rider gets upset at fellow passenger for being impolite, soon shoots him to death, authorities say. Jury returns verdict.

Former Baltimore City Police Deputy Commissioner Jason Johnson told WBFF in a follow-up story that young repeat offenders are a growing problem: "The state maintains juvenile detention facilities for a reason. And this is a poster child literally for the type of person that needs to be detained."

Effective July 3, acting Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Betsy Fox Tolentino launched a new policy requiring all teens arrested for violent felonies while already wearing ankle monitors to be automatically detained until their next court dates, WBFF said in a third story.

RELATED: Armed 17-year-old carjacker rolls the dice, promptly meets his match when victim pulls his own gun and opens fire

But it's unclear whether that policy was applied to the 13-year-old in question, the station said, adding that a DJS spokesperson said state law prevents the agency from discussing specific cases.

Mark Crosby — a pro-life Baltimore resident who was brutally beaten up in 2023 in front of a Planned Parenthood in the city, only for the culprit to walk away without any jail time — gave Blaze News a succinct reaction to the news of the 13-year-old male with the already lengthy rap sheet charged in connection with the local crime spree: "Bring in the troops!"

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DC Sub Chucker Loses His Lunch, His Cool, And His Sweet DOJ Job In Pitiful Street Tantrum

A month ago, this kind of public disturbance may have gone unaddressed, and it would have emboldened more bad behavior.

Trump threatens takeover of DC after DOGE's 'Big Balls' was savagely assaulted while defending a young woman



Police data indicates that Washington, D.C., saw a significant drop in violent crime in 2024 and continued improvements this year. Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser made a big deal about this positive trend in her April letter to President Donald Trump's "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force" as well as in public statements.

Chatter about this trend serves to gloss over how these improvements are relative to statistics in 2023, when the city suffered a 39% increase in violent crime — the biggest violent crime spike in the country — and recorded more murders than in any year since 1997. Despite the spin by city officials, D.C. remains one of America's most dangerous cities and has a long way to go to achieve a passing grade.

'He is also a HERO for sacrificing his own safety to defend a helpless woman!'

The president, who has set his sights on D.C.'s beautification and safety, was recently confronted with yet more evidence of the violent state of the nation's capital, this time manifest in a brutal attack on a former employee. It appears the attack may have been the last straw.

Trump shared an image Monday on Truth Social of a battered and blood-covered man, later identified as Edward Coristine, the young engineer known as "Big Balls" who previously worked for the Department of Government Efficiency.

According to Elon Musk, "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."

Marko Elez, a friend of "Big Balls" who also worked for the DOGE, said that he took the photo and indicated that "Edward protected a young woman from an attempted carjacking by 8 thugs near Dupont Circle."

— (@)

The Metropolitan Police Department indicated that on Sunday, suspects approached the victims in the 1400 block of Swann Street Northwest, "demanded the victim’s vehicle and then assaulted one of the victims."

According to an incident report obtained by Wired, police saw around 10 juveniles surround what was apparently Coristine's vehicle. Before the mob descended on him, Coristine "pushed" his girlfriend, Emily Bryant, into the car, then "turned to deal with the suspects."

RELATED: Trump signs executive order to help cities and states tackle homelessness and drug abuse

Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images

The thugs scattered when nearby police officers exited their vehicle.

Police have arrested and charged a 15-year-old male and a 15-year-old female of Hyattsville, Maryland, with unarmed carjacking.

Coristine has been hailed as a hero for facing the mob to defend Bryant and back up his nickname.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for instance, noted, "Not only does Edward Coristine patriotically work to gut our government of waste, fraud, and abuse, he is also a HERO for sacrificing his own safety to defend a helpless woman!"

'Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see.'

Trump, evidently disgusted with how Coristine was "beaten mercilessly by local thugs," noted, "Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control. 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. They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!"

Trump suggested that the juvenile thugs engaged in such crime should be prosecuted and sentenced as adults "starting at age 14."

Newly confirmed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro vowed on Monday to "fight crime with a vengeance" and "make sure there are consequences" for crime.

RELATED: 'Anti-white bigotry': Mob beats victims down to street — including male who punches woman in face, apparently knocks her out

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and President Donald Trump. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images.

"Washington, D.C., must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see," Trump added in his Truth Social post. "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 has long discussed a federal takeover of the city.

In February, the president suggested that the federal government should govern the district, stating, "I think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order, make it absolutely, flawlessly beautiful, and I think we should take over Washington, D.C., make it safe."

Last month, again, the president suggested, "We could run D.C.," adding that "we want a capital that's run flawlessly, and it wouldn't be hard for us to do it."

During a press conference Monday evening concerning his establishment of a White House Olympics task force, Trump reiterated his intention to take over the city unless things drastically improve.

"Somebody from DOGE was very badly hurt last night. You saw that: a young man who was beat up by a bunch of thugs in D.C.," said the president. "Either they're going to straighten their act out in terms of government and in terms of protection, or we're going to have to federalize and run it the way it's supposed to be run."

Federalizing America's capital in a sustainable fashion would require the repeal or suspension of the District of Columbia's Home Rule Act.

The Home Rule Act of 1973 enabled residents of the district to elect a mayor and a 13-member council and delegated certain powers to the district's local government. D.C. was previously governed by Congress and federal appointees.

Republican lawmakers Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introduced legislation in February that would repeal the Home Rule Act one year after the passage of the bill.

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