President Trump said he will take steps to help revive the death penalty in Washington, D.C., for criminals convicted of murder.
The President’s support for the penalty comes amid the crackdown on rampant crime in the nation’s capital. According to the President, the death penalty could provide a deterrent to help reduce the city’s homicide rate, the fourth-highest in the country.
“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump said to reporters during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting, per Fox News.
“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The death penalty was officially rescinded in D.C. in 1981. The decision to halt its use followed a 1972 Supreme Court decision that concluded the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.
On August 11, the President signed a presidential memorandum directing the District of Columbia’s National Guard to mobilize to help tackle what his administration called “out-of-control violent crime.” More recently, on August 25, The Dallas Express reported that Trump signed an executive order directing sweeping federal interventions to control what the White House says is a “crime emergency” in the nation’s capital.
According to Trump, the White House’s interventions have so far helped reduce robberies by 46% and carjackings by 83%. As of Monday, the city, known for its elevated murder rate, had gone 12 consecutive days without a homicide.
In January, the President signed an executive order instructing the attorney general to “pursue the death penalty for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.”
The order also called the penalty “an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens.”
“Our Founders knew well that only capital punishment can bring justice and restore order in response to such evil. For this and other reasons, capital punishment continues to enjoy broad popular support,” stated the executive order.