Page 9 - AHATA

A2 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 18 sepTember 2025
Prosecutors already have dropped

nearly a dozen cases from Trump’s D.C.

crime surge, judge says

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN an unusually high collapse serious cases from assaults
Associated Press rate that judges say is wast- on federal agents to gun
WASHINGTON (AP) — More ing court resources. charges unraveling before
than 50 people have faced The dismissals highlight the they ever reach trial.
federal charges in Wash- risks of Trump’s emergency On Tuesday, U.S. Magis-
ington, D.C., since Presi- surge strategy: an unprec- trate Judge Matthew Shar-
dent Donald Trump’s emer- edented flood of arrests baugh dismissed two felony
gency law-and-order surge that has produced head- assault cases at the request
Members of the Ohio National Guard patrol the National Mall began last month. Already, line-grabbing numbers but of U.S. Attorney Jeanine
Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, in Washington. prosecutors have dropped faltered under judicial scru- Pirro’s office. He delivered
Associated Press at least 11 of those cases, tiny, with some of the most a blunt warning from the
bench as he questioned
whether prosecutors are
making charging decisions
before cases are properly
investigated and vetted.
“That’s not the way it’s sup-
posed to work, and it has
real-world consequences,”
Sharbaugh said. “This is
becoming a real concern
for the court just given the
sheer numbers.”Judges
aren’t the only ones push-
ing back.
Grand juries have refused
to return indictments at
least eight times in six sep-
arate cases, an extraor-
dinarily rare rebuke that
underscores skepticism
about the strength of the
evidence in surge pros-
ecutions. Trump claims his
emergency 30-day de-
ployment of federal agents
and National Guard mem-
bers is making the streets
safer for District of Colum-
bia residents.
One of the cases Shar-
baugh dismissed involved
Scott Pichon, accused of
spitting on two members
of the South Carolina Army
National Guard outside
Union Station on Aug. 22.
Prosecutors dropped the
felony assault count and
instead charged him with
misdemeanors in D.C. Su-
perior Court, which han-
dles local criminal matters.
The other case was against
Paul Nguyen, accused of
assaulting a federal agent
who tried to break up a
street fight on Aug. 23.
Prosecutors abandoned
that felony entirely, and
Nguyen isn’t facing any
new charges. Nguyen,
who appeared in court
wearing a sling, said his
arm was broken during his
arrest and that he spent
five nights in jail before be-
ing released.q