Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced first-degree murder charges Friday against the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., while lashing out at critics of President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy troops to the nation’s capital.
In an interview with “Fox & Friends,” Pirro confirmed one of the members shot remains in critical condition, while the other died of her injuries on Thursday.
Pirro told Fox News the suspect in the case would “be charged with murder in the first degree” following the death.
“There are certainly many more charges to come, but we are upgrading the initial charges of assault to murder in the first degree,” she added.
Meanwhile, Pirro addressed criticism of Trump’s decision to deploy troops to Washington, saying Americans “should be grateful” that Trump is prepared to take such swift action to keep them safe.
“There’s a part of me that thinks that the left is disappointed that the National Guard didn’t shoot someone,” Pirro said.
“People should be grateful that the president of the United States has taken crime so seriously in this country that he is bringing in our law enforcement partners so that we can protect the innocent citizens,” she added.
Over 2,000 National Guard troops were deployed to the capital in August after Trump signed an executive order declaring a crime emergency in the city, despite crime statistics showing otherwise. The troops have been spotted patrolling tourist sites, Metro stations and picking up trash. Following Wednesday’s shooting, Trump has ordered the deployment of an additional 500 members.
Military commanders had raised concerns about the deployment earlier this year, warning that the mission could be seen as “a target of opportunity,” according to internal directives distributed to National Guard troops reported by The New York Times.
Pirro has staunchly defended Trump’s executive order.
“I don’t even wanna talk about whether [the troops] should’ve been there,” the former Fox News said during a press conference Thursday. “We ought to kiss the ground and thank God that the president said it’s time to bring in more law enforcement to make sure that a city that had the fourth highest homicide rate in the country… that that violence was quelled.”
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During her Fox News interview, Pirro also seized on the fact that the suspect entered the U.S. legally under a resettlement program implemented by the Biden administration following the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, claiming that the former president’s team didn’t run adequate checks on the suspect before clearing him to enter the U.S.
“If you think there was vetting, I have a bridge to sell you,” Pirro said without citing any evidence to support her claims.
Notably, Pirro also failed to mention that the suspect was granted asylum this year under the Trump administration.
The former Fox News host said it was too early to spell out the shooter’s motive, noting that the investigation continues.
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