'Congress needs to take back control of our capital': Lawmakers slam lawless DC after Trump official was killed during carjacking spree

Lawmakers have slammed soaring rates of violent crime in the nation's capital after a Trump official was killed last week during a carjacking spree. 

'Mike Gill's death from attack by a carjacker on 14th street in downtown Washington while picking his wife up from work is one more example of why Congress needs to take back control of our national capital,' wrote former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on X Sunday.  

Last year was the city's deadliest in more than two decades with numbers going up  even as violent crime dropped in nearly every other city in America. 

Nearby Baltimore, famous for its crime portrayed in 'The Wire,' saw its biggest drop in homicides on record last year. 

But 40 miles away in D.C., the numbers of shootings, homicides and carjackings all soared even spilling into neighborhoods that have typically been spared such violence.

Lawmakers including former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, have slammed soaring rates of violent crime in the nation's capital after a Trump official was killed last week during a carjacking spree

Gingrich has urged Congress to step in and attempt to help the problem

Former Trump Administration official Mike Gill died after being shot during a carjacking in Washington, D.C .

Crimes are becoming more frequent in the downtown area of the city where frequently making longtime residents feel unsafe for the first time.

Former President Donald Trump has promised to send in federal troops to deal with the situation.

'I will send in the National Guard until law and order is restored. I wouldn't even call the mayor,' he told an audience last year. 

'Washington has become a dirty, crime ridden death trap, that must be taken over and properly run by the Federal Government,' Trump said on his Truth Social.

Last week, the topic of crime in Washington, D.C., came up again with Trump vowing to 'take over our horribly run capital' and renovate it so 'it's no longer a nightmare of murder and crime.' 

Last week, the topic came up again with Trump vowing to 'take over our horribly run capital' and renovate it so 'it's no longer a nightmare of murder and crime.'

'We're going to federalize it. We're gonna have the toughest law enforcement in the country. We're not going to have any more crime and it's going to look beautiful,' Trump stated.

A former U.S. attorney appointed by George W. Bush, Brett Tolman, who is executive director of the conservative criminal justice reform group Right on Crime, has blamed Washington's chief prosecutor not prosecuting most cases. 

'We do not need to change the law. We do not need a president coming in and using the National Guard to take over the city. All you need is a person on the job, whether Republican or Democrat, telling people they will enforce the law,' he told NBC News.

Artell Cunningham, 28, was gunned down by police about 4.30am last Tuesday after he carjacked numerous vehicles and killed two people

This weekend it was revealed how the carjacker who shot dead former Trump Administration official Mike Gill during a nightlong crime spree was arrested over a car crash a year earlier.

Artell Cunningham, 28, was gunned down by police around 4.30am last Tuesday after he carjacked numerous vehicles and killed two people.

His first victim was Gill, a married father of three who was shot on K Street NW in Washington, D.C., about 5.45pm last Monday and died in hospital Saturday.

Gill served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during Donald Trump's time in the White House.

Cunningham, just 90 minutes late,r shot dead father-of-two Alberto Vasquez Jr, 35, in a separate carjacking nearby, then stole more cars at gunpoint, authorities said. 

He was killed by two New Carrollton Police officers who cornered him on the northeast outskirts of DC's Maryland suburbs.

Former Trump Administration official Mike Gill died after being shot during a carjacking in Washington, D.C. He seen here with his wife and three children just two weeks earlier

Alberto Vasquez Jr, 35, (pictured with his family) was killed in a separate D.C. carjacking by the same shooter 90 minutes after Gill was shot

Cunningham was memorialized by his sister Atia La'Shae, who replied 'yes, very much so' to a friend who wrote 'he will be missed' on her post.

Jeffery Carroll, the assistant chief of DC police, said Cunningham had a criminal history and appeared to be going through a mental health crisis at the time.

Arrest records indicate Cunningham was arrested on April 8, 2021, for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing officers, and failing to obey police instructions.

Then on September 24, 2022, he was arrested for driving an uninsured vehicle and fleeing the scene of a car accident he was involved in.

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Brian Schwalb told residents concerned by the skyrocketing crime rate that his department could not 'prosecute and arrest our way out' of the problem.

He was speaking during Understanding Juvenile Carjacking: A Panel Discussion, that discussed a rise in violent crime that was plaguing the nation's capital.

Schwalb said if residents wanted to be 'safer in the long run' they needed to focus on preventing crime, not just arresting after the fact.

'We as a city and a community need to be much more focused on prevention and surrounding young people and their families with resources if we want to be safer in the long run,' he said. 

'We cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it.'

Cunningham was memorialized by his sister Atia La'Shae with this photo. She replied 'yes, very much so' to a friend who wrote 'he will be missed' on her post

Arrest records indicate Cunningham was arrested on April 8, 2021, for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstructing officers and failing to obey police instructions

Surveillance images show Cunningham, 28, who was hours later gunned down by two New Carrollton Police officers on the northeast outskirts of DC's Maryland suburbs 

The panel was chaired by Councilman Charles Allen, who is facing a recall effort in his Ward 6 seat due to rising crime in the area, and the city overall.

Schwalb's office hit back at criticism from Republican lawmakers, insisting he was 'laser focused' on making DC safer but believed in a holistic solution.

This includes prosecuting juveniles and holding them accountable when they commit crimes, which we do for every serious offense where there is sufficient evidence to prove a case,' it said.

'Prosecution, however, by definition, takes place after a crime has occurred, and to truly make the District safer, we need to focus on stopping crime before it happens in the first place.

'Prevention efforts cannot replace effective policing and prosecution, but are equally necessary in order to make DC safer now and in the long run.'

Another law and order official, US Attorney for DC Matthew Graves, is facing calls for impeachment from Republicans over the increased crime.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced article of impeachment to the House on May 16 last year, but it has gone nowhere since.

Greene accused him of refusing to prosecute 67 per cent of suspects arrested by DC police, but going hard on the January 6 insurrectionists. 

'The time for weaponizing the Department of Justice needs to come to an end. And because you refuse to prosecute real criminals that are violating all the crimes here in Washington DC, and you want to talk about DC residents — they are victims of your abuse of power,' she said. 

'And because of that, I am introducing articles of impeachment on you, Mr. Graves.' 

Washington, DC, Attorney General Brian Schwalb recently told residents concerned by the skyrocketing crime rate that his department could not 'prosecute and arrest our way out' of the problem 

Graves explained many lower-level cases were not prosecuted, such as gun possession, drug possession, and misdemeanors, due to lack of resources.

The biggest issue was the DC Department of Forensic Sciences losing its accreditation in 2021, forcing DNA and other evidence to be sent elsewhere for processing - an expensive and time-consuming effort.

Prosecutors were also ditching more cases because bodycam footage exposed a lack of evidence for the crime, or didn't match police reports. 

Graves said the vast majority of violent crime arrests were prosecuted - including 87.9 percent of homicides, armed carjackings, assaults with intent to kill, and first-degree sexual assault cases in 2022.