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President Donald Trump said he plans to pursue reviving the death penalty in Washington for those convicted of murder amid his crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump told reporters during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting. “And that’s a very strong preventative. And everybody that’s heard it agrees with it. I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but we have it. … We have no choice.”
The 1972 Supreme Court decision in Furman v. Georgia determined that the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment’s provision barring cruel and unusual punishment, and the D.C. Council officially rescinded the death penalty in 1981, according to the nonprofit organization the Death Penalty Information Center.
Twenty-seven states still permit the death penalty, while 23 states do not have capital punishment. Four states — California, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Oregon — have a hold on executions in their state, per orders from their respective state’s governors.
SOME NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ARE NOW ARMED IN WASHINGTON, DC
No additional details were immediately available. The White House referred Fox News Digital back to Trump’s comments at the Cabinet meeting.
On Aug. 11, Trump unveiled plans to deploy troops from the D.C. National Guard and to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington. Since then, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said that there have been more than 1,000 arrests and, as of Monday, 12 consecutive days without a homicide in the capital.
HUNDREDS ARRESTED AS TRUMP’S WASHINGTON, DC, CRIME CRACKDOWN HITS FULL STRIDE
Trump initially tapped 800 D.C. National Guard troops as part of his effort to cut down on crime in Washington, but now, National Guard troops from Ohio, West Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee also have deployed to Washington to support the Trump administration’s effort.
The 1973 Home Rule Act authorizes a temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department for emergency situations up to 30 days. But after 30 days, Congress must approve any extensions.
Similar restrictions don’t exist for D.C. National Guard troops in the Home Rule Act, however.
Trump has long backed the death penalty, and signed an executive order in January titled “Restoring the Death Penalty and Protecting Public Safety.” The order instructs the attorney general to “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.”
“Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens,” the order said. “Before, during, and after the founding of the United States, our cities, States, and country have continuously relied upon capital punishment as the ultimate deterrent and only proper punishment for the vilest crimes.”
NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS FROM SIX RED STATES HEAD TO DC TO HELP TACKLE CRIME
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