On the bustling streets of Washington, D.C., a series of violent incidents and courtroom dramas have thrown the city’s approach to crime and justice into sharp relief. In the early hours of August 3, 2025, a string of assaults and attempted carjackings rattled the U Street corridor—a nightlife hotspot known for its energy, but lately, also for its vulnerability to crime. The aftermath has seen not only charges against teenagers for brutal attacks but also a wave of legal setbacks for federal prosecutors, raising questions about accountability, the effectiveness of the justice system, and the city’s struggle to maintain order amid rising violence.
According to a press conference held by United States Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro on October 20, 2025, two teenagers, Lawrence Cotton Powell, 19, and Anthony Taylor, 18, now face charges of first-degree robbery and assault with intent to commit robbery. The charges stem from the assault and robbery of 22-year-old Ethan Levine, a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer known among colleagues as “Big Balls.” Levine was standing outside a Sunoco gas station with friends at about 2:53 a.m. when a large group of teens approached and began to attack him. As Pirro described, “Cotton Powell was stomping on Levine’s head—as you can see in this poster to my left. Levine was able to get up momentarily, but the crowd chased him and got him down again. They continued to attack Levine, while he was on the ground, and then proceeded to rob him of his sneakers and his watch.”
The violence didn’t stop there. Minutes later, the group targeted Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old who had left DOGE in June. Coristine was escorting a young woman to her car on the 1400 block of Swan Street Northwest when approximately ten suspects confronted him. Pirro recounted, “He was protecting her from the group before he was then attacked by multiple suspects, who then punched him repeatedly, causing significant injuries to him. They got him on the ground, and as they were doing so, they demanded the car from the woman who was inside the car and had already locked the car.”
The attacks, which left two young men severely beaten, have become emblematic of the city’s struggle to balance rehabilitation for young offenders with the need for public safety. Pirro emphasized the “history of Lawrence Cotton Powell,” noting that just months prior, Powell had been sentenced for a felony attempted robbery. Remarkably, instead of jail time, he received probation. “Within 31 days, by May 4, Powell re-offends. He’s rearrested while he’s on probation from the felony, and he’s charged with simple assault and possession of a prohibited weapon,” Pirro stated, highlighting her office’s repeated calls for stricter consequences. “My office asked for jail time,” she added, “while a judge gave Cotton Powell probation.”
In the aftermath, the legal system’s response has drawn scrutiny. Two juveniles involved in the Coristine attack—a 15-year-old boy and girl from Hyattsville, Maryland—avoided incarceration. According to reporting by Breitbart News, both received probation: the boy was sentenced to 12 months and allowed to return home under strict house arrest, while the girl received nine months probation and was remanded to a local youth shelter. The leniency of these sentences has fueled public frustration over what some see as a revolving door for young offenders in the District.
The city’s challenges in prosecuting violent crime are not limited to street assaults. In a separate but equally telling development, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. faced a major setback in its efforts to hold individuals accountable for assaults on federal agents during a federal law enforcement surge in the city. On October 16, 2025, a jury found Sydney Reid not guilty of assaulting an FBI agent during an ICE arrest outside the D.C. Jail in July. The trial was marred by missing evidence and a lack of witnesses, leading to a swift acquittal.
The ripple effects were immediate. Just one day after Reid’s acquittal, prosecutors moved to dismiss similar charges against Mark Thomas Bigelow, who had been accused of assaulting federal agents in an August 20 incident in Northeast Washington. Court documents reveal that federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Diplomatic Security Service were patrolling with local police when they stopped a van containing Bigelow and two others. After officers discovered an open container of alcohol, Bigelow allegedly tried to walk away and, during the ensuing arrest, was accused of kicking an agent in the hand. Despite the seriousness of the charges—misdemeanor assault against three federal officers—the government sought to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning the charges cannot be refiled.
This pattern of prosecutorial difficulty has become familiar. According to court records and reporting by local outlets, grand juries have repeatedly declined to indict felony assault charges stemming from the federal surge, including cases similar to Reid’s and that of Sean Dunn, who is accused of throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol officer. Dunn’s case, however, remains active and is scheduled to go to trial for misdemeanor assault charges on November 3, 2025. The government’s inability to secure indictments in at least eight similar assault cases has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the federal surge and the broader prosecutorial strategy in Washington.
The legal setbacks have not gone unnoticed by political leaders. In August, President Donald Trump threatened to take control of the District of Columbia, citing the assault on DOGE staffers as evidence of the city’s inability to protect its own. During a press conference, he declared, “Somebody from DOGE had been badly hurt,” underscoring the national attention the incidents have drawn.
For residents, the events of this past summer and fall have laid bare the complexities of urban crime and justice. Washington’s approach—balancing rehabilitation, especially for young offenders, against the need for accountability—remains under intense scrutiny. Advocates for youth justice argue that probation and diversionary programs offer the best hope for breaking cycles of violence, while critics point to repeat offenses and escalating violence as evidence that the system is too lenient. The fact that Lawrence Cotton Powell reoffended while on probation, only to be granted probation again, is cited by some as a glaring example of systemic failure.
Meanwhile, federal prosecutors face their own challenges: missing evidence, reluctant witnesses, and grand juries unwilling to indict have all contributed to a string of high-profile acquittals and dismissals. The decision to dismiss Bigelow’s case with prejudice, just one day after Reid’s acquittal, signals a recognition of these hurdles—and perhaps an implicit admission that the current approach is not working as intended.
As Washington, D.C. heads into the winter months, the city’s streets remain tense, and its courtrooms busy. The stories of Ethan Levine, Edward Coristine, Sydney Reid, Mark Thomas Bigelow, and Sean Dunn are more than isolated incidents; they are threads in a larger tapestry of a city grappling with violence, justice, and the ever-elusive goal of public safety. The coming trials and policy debates are sure to test not only the limits of the law but also the patience and resilience of a community searching for answers.
