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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum instructing federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in all eligible murder cases in the nation’s capital.
The directive orders Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro to seek capital punishment in cases that qualify under federal law.
Trump had pushed for reinstating executions in the District of Columbia last month following a fatal shooting, arguing the death penalty could serve as a “very strong preventative.”
“Capital punishment is an essential part of how our justice system deters and punishes the most reprehensible crimes that often involve grotesque and lethal violence against innocent Americans,” Trump wrote in the memorandum.
“My Administration has undertaken numerous successful actions to address the [crime] emergency … and to protect public safety, as a result of which crime in the District of Columbia has fallen dramatically in recent weeks,” he continued. “Faithful implementation of the capital punishment laws will be part of this continuing work.”
A White House fact sheet released on Thursday also noted the president’s move as an act to protect public safety.
“By enforcing the death penalty law against D.C.’s worst offenders, President Trump underscores his determination to protect our Nation’s capital for all Americans who visit and reside there and ensure violent criminals face the toughest consequences under law,” it noted.
The president informed Cabinet members last month that states should be allowed to make their own decisions regarding the use of capital punishment. Execution remains legal in 27 states.
Pirro said in July that the Justice Department was considering seeking the death penalty for a suspect accused of killing two Israeli staffers outside a Jewish building in Washington earlier this year.
The death penalty has not been used in Washington, D.C., for nearly 70 years. The D.C. Council repealed it in 1981, and a decade later, residents voted against a referendum to reinstate it.
Capital punishment cases in D.C. must be prosecuted at the federal level. The city’s last execution took place in 1957, when Robert Carter was put to death in the electric chair, according to The Hill.