A 15-year-old from Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty this week to charges tied to the August beating of 19-year-old Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, an attack that President Donald Trump cited when he moved to place D.C. law enforcement under temporary federal control and deploy the National Guard.
Police say the assault occurred in the predawn hours when Coristine, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, and a woman were accosted near Dupont Circle during an attempted carjacking. Officers on the scene arrested two 15-year-olds and prosecutors say one of them admitted in D.C. Superior Court to unarmed carjacking and related assault counts as part of the plea.
Elon Musk, who led DOGE while Coristine worked there, publicly praised Coristine’s actions and said he had intervened to protect the woman.
The attack against the federal employee drew swift national attention after the president posted a photograph of Coristine shirtless and bloodied. In the days that followed, the White House ordered federal law enforcement assets into the city, announced a temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department and deployed National Guard personnel, steps the administration said were necessary to confront what it described as a crime emergency in the capital.
“Crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control,” the president wrote as he shared the photograph that helped prompt the federal response.
However, police statistics show violent crime in Washington has fallen this year compared with 2024, including a steep decline in carjackings.
Local officials pushed back on the president’s characterization of city crime, pointing to official statistics showing declines in violent crime and carjackings this year.
Legal experts and civil-liberties groups raised questions about the scope and legality of the federal takeover, noting that the use of federal forces in local policing roles carries complex constitutional and statutory limits. Congressional Republicans seized on the episode to press for tougher juvenile-crime measures, while local leaders warned against substituting federal control for the city’s home rule.
With the guilty plea entered, prosecutors said they will recommend appropriate sentencing under D.C. juvenile and criminal procedures. Court filings show the teen remains under tight supervision as the matter proceeds toward disposition.
Since the end of Trump’s 30-day federal takeover, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is assuring people worldwide the nation’s capital is safe.
“We think that there’s more accountability in the system, or at least perceived accountability in the system, that is driving down illegal behavior,” Bowser said during a press conference in late August, CNN reported, weeks into the surge.
Why were the teens in that part of DC in the first place? Was assault already in their plan when they left Maryland? Did they call that part of DC “home” at some point previously in their short lives?