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Authorities announced the arrest of two teens in connection with the brutal beating of a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee that allegedly took place during an attempted carjacking in the nation’s capital over the weekend.
A 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, both of Hyattsville, Md., now face charges of unarmed carjacking, Washington D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday. Police did not provide their identities as both suspects are juveniles.
Police said the investigation remains ongoing, with multiple suspects still outstanding.
The victim, Edward Coristine, nicknamed “Big Balls,” was assaulted around 3:00 a.m. Sunday by a group of teenagers in the city’s Logan Circle neighborhood. The teens attempted to carjack him and a woman, whom police identified as his significant other, according to authorities.
TRUMP WARNS HE WILL TAKE ‘FEDERAL CONTROL’ OF WASHINGTON, DC AS YOUTH VIOLENCE CONTINUES
Former DOGE employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was attacked Sunday during an attempted carjacking in Washington, D.C. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)
Police said Coristine pushed the woman into the vehicle for safety and turned to confront the group. At least several of the teens then attacked him, police said, until officers patrolling nearby intervened. As officers moved toward the group, the teens fled on foot.
Coristine, one of the most visible figures of President Donald Trump’s DOGE, was left bloodied in the attack, according to a photo the president shared on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump listens at an event to promote his proposal to improve Americans’ access to their medical records in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The assault prompted Trump to threaten to federalize Washington, D.C., calling for local minors and gang members over the age of 14 to be prosecuted as adults.
“The most recent victim was beaten mercilessly by local thugs,” Trump wrote. “Perhaps it should have been done a long time ago, then this incredible young man, and so many others, would not have had to go through the horrors of Violent Crime. If this continues, I am going to exert my powers, and FEDERALIZE this City. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
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Former DOGE head Elon Musk weighed in on X, sharing more of the story.
“A few days ago, a gang of about a dozen young men tried to assault a woman in her car at night in DC,” Musk wrote. “A @Doge team member saw what was happening, ran to defend her and was severely beaten to the point of concussion, but he saved her. It is time to federalize DC.”
The president said it appears criminals are “not afraid” of the police, because “nothing ever happens to them.”
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“Washington, D.C. must be safe, clean, and beautiful for all Americans and, importantly, for the World to see,” he wrote in the post. “If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they’re not going to get away with it anymore.”
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Brooke Singman, along with the Assoicated Press contributed to this report.