Trump backs death penalty in all Washington, DC, murder cases; Catholic group objects

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2025 / 08:20 am (CNA).

President Donald Trump called on prosecutors in Washington, D.C., to seek the death penalty for any person convicted of murder in the nation’s capital — a plan that has received pushback from the advocacy group Catholic Mobilizing Network.

“Anybody murders [somebody] in the capital — capital punishment,” Trump told reporters last week.

“If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we’re going to be seeking the death penalty and it’s a very strong preventative and everybody that’s heard it agrees with it,” Trump added. “I don’t know if we’re ready for it in this country, but … we have no choice.”

The president did not make clear how he would impose such a requirement. A spokesperson for the White House referred CNA back to Trump’s comments when asked whether a specific policy or plan is in the works.

Last month, Trump initiated a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., police and deployed the National Guard to assist the police. The District of Columbia Home Rule Act allows a president to take control of city police for 30 days without congressional approval amid emergencies.

The president cited the city’s crime rate as the emergency that warrants the temporary federal takeover.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, president of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, told CNA that like other American cities, Washington, D.C., “has challenges with crime and violence that should not be ignored.”

“But to suggest that the response to homicide in the District of Columbia should be capital punishment is at best a terribly misguided approach,” she said. “Perpetuating more violence in response to harm does not promise safety or an effective solution to crime.”

The Catholic Mobilizing Network works closely with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on efforts to oppose the death penalty and uphold the human dignity of people who are incarcerated.

“Capital punishment defiles the sacred dignity of life and deserves no place in our nation’s capital, our country, or any society,” Murphy added. “Simply put, the death penalty is a failed system beyond repair. Instead of providing real opportunities for healing and closure, capital punishment systematically perpetuates a cycle of violence.”

Murphy argued that enforcing the death penalty is more costly than other prison sentences, does not deter crime, and risks ending the life of people who are wrongly accused.

“The people of Washington, D.C., deserve real safety, true accountability, and approaches to crime and violence that are rooted in the preservation of life,” she said.

The death penalty is currently legal in 27 states but has been abolished in 23.