BBC Verify Live: Fact checking Trump’s Washington DC crime claim
Is Trump right to claim Washington DC crime is ‘out of control’?published at 10:28 British Summer Time
Jake Horton
BBC Verify senior journalist
Image source, Getty Images
Yesterday, President Trump signed an executive order declaring “a crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” citing “rising violence in the capital.”
His administration is taking control of the city’s police department and plans to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington, DC.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser pushed back against the claim, saying the city has “seen a huge decrease in crime” and is “at a 30-year violent crime low”.
So who is right?
While studies suggest the capital’s crime rate is higher than average compared with other major US cities, violent crime in 2024 fell to its lowest level in 30 years – and has continued to decline so far this year.
Tuesday’s BBC Verify Livepublished at 10:06 British Summer Time
Tom Edgington
BBC Verify live editor
Good morning and welcome totoday’s BBC Verify Live.
This is where we share thework of our verification, fact-checking and data journalists.
Our verification experts havestarted their day looking into reports of drone strikes in Ukraine and Russia -including one that allegedly targeted an industrial plant in southern Russia.We’ll bring you their findings shortly.
Elsewhere, the latest smallboat crossing figures are expected to show 50,000 migrants have arrived sinceLabour took office in July last year. Our data experts will be looking at thenumbers (due early in the afternoon) and asking where it leaves the government’s“smash the gangs” pledge.
While we wait for thosefigures, you canread our overnight fact-check on President Trump’s claim that crime inWashington DC is “out of control.”
As ever – you can find moreof our work on the BBCVerify section of the BBC News website.
