Top Federal Prosecutor in Washington Takes New Step to Respond to Gun Crimes

Ed Martin has a new initiative called ‘Make D.C. Safe Again.’

Ed Martin speaks at an event in Washington on June 13, 2023. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/AP Photo

The top federal prosecutor in Washington is vowing to crack down on gun crimes in the nation’s capitol.

“Hey, thugs with guns: We comin',” President Donald Trump’s interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin wrote on March 1 the social media platform X.

Martin on Monday ordered prosecutors in his office to pursue every firearms case referred to them and to seek pretrial detention against every person charged with such an offense, according to memorandum obtained by Reuters.

The directive is part of a new initiative he called “Make D.C. Safe Again.”

“We will flood the federal district court with cases - to make our City safe,” Martin wrote in an email accompanying the new memorandum.

A spokesperson for his office declined to comment.

In another post on X, Martin said he had recently met with FBI Director Kash Patel and requested help to make Washington safe again.

“He said: ‘whatever you need.’ Literally. Thank you, sir. Hey, thugs with guns, you hear that? Yup, we comin’,” Martin wrote.

In a third post, Martin said that his predecessor wrongly focused resources on bringing political prosecutions while gun prosecutions went down.

“We will put the people first. We will get the thugs with guns. We comin.’ We will Make DC Safe Again,” Martin wrote.

Matthew Graves, the predecessor, said in 2023 when asked why his office was not prosecuting the majority of arrests made by officers in the city that he wanted to prioritize felony crimes. Graves led the Department of Justice’s prosecutions of more than 1,500 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Martin’s office has been lodging filings in support of Trump’s pardons of those individuals.

The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia is appointed by the president and prosecutes both federal and local crimes. It is the largest U.S. attorney’s office, with more than 330 assistant U.S. attorneys.

Martin has demoted senior leaders in his office who supervised prosecutions of firearms and other crimes. Denise Cheung, who had been chief of the office’s Criminal Division, stepped down recently after she was allegedly ordered to investigate a contract awarded while President Joe Biden was still in office.

Martin informed staffers on Monday that Jonathan Hornok, a prosecutor in the Department of Justice’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section, would be replacing Cheung.

Martin said in his memo that prosecutors will be prohibited from declining to bring firearms charges unless they receive approval from Hornok.

If a magistrate judge turns down a request for pretrial detention, prosecutors will have to appeal that decision, the memo says.

He also said on Monday that about a dozen agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were being reassigned to the “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative.

Martin is serving in an interim capacity but President Donald Trump has nominated him to serve as U.S. attorney in Washington permanently. Trump said that Martin has been doing a great job, “fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again.” U.S. attorneys require confirmation from the Senate.

Reuters contributed to this report.