US President Donald Trump has said he plans to seek the death penalty for suspected murderers in Washington DC.

Speaking during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said that the death penalty would be a “preventative” measure.

Hundreds of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers have been deployed to the US capital to combat what Trump has previously described as “complete and total lawlessness” in the city - a strategy he has hinted could be repeated in Chicago and other cities.

Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, has rejected the president’s claims about crime, which has fallen in the city since spiking in 2023.

“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, DC, we’re going to be seeking the death penalty,” Trump told reporters and cabinet members. “And that’s a very strong preventative.”

    • KoboldCoterie@pawb.social
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      1 day ago

      Of course it doesn’t. It only applies to murder - you know, the thing black people and minorities do - not heroic acts in the line of duty, like cops and ICE do, or unfortunate accidents and self-defense, like white republicans commit.

    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca
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      23 hours ago

      Trump is the law. It is, by definition, not illegal if Trump does it. No, I don’t believe that, but that’s the excuse people use when God does something immoral in the Bible, and Trump’s followers believe Trump is God.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    22 hours ago

    Because we all know that death penalties have a perfect track record. Once the death penalty comes by, murders all drop to zero, that’s why there haven’t been any murders in the US for decades now

    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca
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      22 hours ago

      In my experience, consequences don’t deter neurotypical people. It is actually very annoying to my autistic brain. I’m very unlikely to break any rules intentionally because I’m afraid of consequences. Meanwhile, everyone else seems very nonchalant about breaking rules even when potential consequences are severe.

  • Lutra@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    He also called for the death penalty for the wrongly accused central park 5. it’s been 20 years, and he remains the same

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    Anybody who (still) doesn’t see the parallels to the rise of fascism in Germany needs to get their brains examined.

    While no federal executions have been carried out since Trump returned to office, he oversaw a flurry of 13 executions in the waning months of his first term in late 2020 and January 2021.

    Those executions made Trump the country’s most prolific executioner in over a century, and broke with an 130-year-old precedent of pausing executions amid a presidential transition.

    The last execution came just five days before he left office in January 2021.

    Damn, only the Brits would call that “a flurry”

  • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Was that before or after he tried to raped children?

    Edit: I guess it still does count as rape even if your dick doesn’t work.

    • FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      Careful, project 2025 is calling for that but their intent is to use it to execute LGBT people and not actual pedophiles

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    “And that’s a very strong preventative.”

    Cite expert sources that say… oh, you’re an expert? Okay, guess that’s good enough.