The U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. is cracking down on violent felons caught with guns, and some folks in the District aren't too happy about it.

As the Washington Post reports, the number of felon-in-possession cases charged in federal court have dramatically increased since U.S. Attorney Ed Martin took over earlier this year. That shouldn't be problem for anyone in D.C. concerned about public safety, but some community activists and D.C. residents are worried that a "war on guns" could lead to mass incarceration of "countless Black men, women and children for nonviolent crimes". 

The five men, who were convicted felons before their most recent encounters with law enforcement, face federal firearms charges, swept up in interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin’s “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative pledging to get guns off the city’s streets. Martin boasted recently on social media and in a community meeting that his office had charged 18 felons with federal gun possession crimes in the month since he announced his plans, more than double the number charged in the same month a year ago.

All 18 are Black men, The Washington Post confirmed through court records and charging documents, fueling criticism by some District residents and defense attorneys that Martin’s plans are putting the city back on a path of targeting racial minorities even as D.C. is experiencing a sharp decline in violent crime. D.C.’s federal court sentenced an average of four people a month for firearms charges in the nine years ending with 2023, the latest data available from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Of those, 93 percent were Black.

We've written before about the racial disparities in prosecuting non-violent gun offenses in cities like Washington, D.C. and New York City, and I think it's fair to be concerned about whether Martin's plan to divert felon-in-possession cases to federal court will result in a disproportionate number of prosecutions of Black residents. At the same time, it's hard to argue that many of the individuals who've been charged by Martin's office should get a pass or have their cases kept in local D.C. courts where the prospects of a sweetheart plea deal are much better. 

On Tuesday, Martin’s federal prosecutors and attorneys for Monte Tyree Johnson sparred in Boasberg’s second-floor courtroom over whether Johnson could be released pending trial on weapons offenses. 

Johnson, 29, who was convicted in 2021 of voluntary manslaughter in the 2016 shooting of a transgender woman during a robbery, was taken into custody March 18. Authorities said they went to pick him up on an alleged probation violation and found a Glock 27 and 22 rounds of ammunition in his backpack. Soon after, Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh ordered him released from jail, and Martin’s office sought Boasberg’s intervention.

Why was someone who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter less than four years ago already back out on the streets? That alone is troubling, and the fact that he was armed when police went to arrest him for violating the terms of his probation is a pretty strong piece of evidence that D.C.'s lax prosecutions are empowering criminals with a sense of impunity. 

On March 19, Rickey Corey Watkins, Jr. was arrested after police say he was driving an all-terrain Suzuki around 8:30 p.m. inside the gated area of the Harrison Recreation Center in the 1300 block of V Street in Northwest Washington. Police say when they tried to pull Watkins over, he tossed what they said was a Glock 19X pistol and loading magazine. Watkins, 33, had been convicted in 2013 of assault with intent to kill while armed.

Watkins’s attorney, Eugene Ohm of the Federal Public Defender Service, declined to comment on his client’s case. But he said in recent weeks that he has seen an increase in similar cases in which he believed prosecutors used an initial stop for a minor offense to charge a more serious crime, such as felon in possession of a firearm.

What else are they supposed to do when an initial stop for a minor offense turns up evidence of a more serious crime? Just ignore it and charge someone with the most minor offense possible? And while driving an ATV inside a gated area of a rec center may be a fairly small infraction on paper, it's not something that should be ignored by law enforcement either. 

There's no evidence whatsoever that Martin's strategy of using the federal courts to prosecute violent felons caught with guns is racist in intent. Programs like Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is the model for Martin's plan, have been used by the DOJ for decades as part of a broader effort of targeted deterrence; going after the most high-risk and prolific violent offenders rather than casting a wide net over the general population. 

I'm of the opinion that once someone has served their sentence they should have all of their rights restored, but I realize that position puts me in the minority of voters across the country. Like it or not, felon-in-possession laws are a thing, and we expect that they're going to be enforced. If Martin was taking every case of someone arrested merely for possessing a gun without a D.C. permit I'd be on board with crying foul, but prosecuting violent felons illegally possessing guns is a pretty common sense step towards making D.C. a safer place.