Latest news with #EricTarpinianJachym
Fox News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump administration cares more about son's death than DC Council, mother of slain GOP intern says
The mother of a slain congressional intern killed in a drive-by shooting says the Trump administration is taking her son's death more seriously than the Washington, D.C., Council The Metropolitan Police Department said Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in D.C. for an internship, was shot June 30 around 10:28 p.m. and died at a hospital July 1. At the time, Tarpinian-Jachym was an intern for Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. Several people were seen exiting a car before opening fire, with one of the shots wounding Tarpinian-Jachym. Police said Tarpinian-Jachym wasn't the intended target, adding an adult female and 16-year-old male were injured. The shooting happened in the 1200 block of 7th Street, Northwest, near the Mt Vernon Sq 7th St-Convention Center Metro stop. On Monday, President Donald Trump federalized police in Washington, D.C., after a string of high-profile incidents. Tarpinian-Jachym's mother, Tamara Jachym, told Fox News Digital the Trump administration is taking more steps than the D.C. Council to fix the youth crime wave plaguing the nation's capital. After the fatal shooting, Trump sent a letter to Jachym, saying he and Melania Trump were "heartbroken for your entire family." "While we may never fully understand the impact that Eric has had during his meaningful life, we know he will be remembered for his kindness, faithfulness, and devotion to your family and his many friends," Trump wrote. "He will also be remembered for his commitment to our country. I know how proud Congressman Estes was to have Eric represent his office, the people of Kansas' Fourth Congressional District, and our Nation. "Eric will be held in my heart, and I promise never to forget or forgive the terrible act that took him from us. Please know that my Administration will not stop fighting to clean up our streets and ensure law and order. May God hold Eric in His eternal love and care and provide you and your other incredible children, Angela and Jeremy, with abiding peace and unending strength." Jachym said "of course" the Trump administration is taking her son's death more seriously than the D.C. Council. "Or [the D.C. Council] would change the laws so 12- to 17-year-olds are booked and charged for crimes and get jail time or juvenile detention," Jachym said. "I am not saying for stealing a pair of shoes, but for serious crimes. "I believe that something needs to be done because the council is allowing these people to engage in serious crime in D.C., and it's getting worse, not better," she added. "It's serious. And you know if they can't see that this is a serious problem, then we have a serious problem." The D.C. Council did not respond to a request for comment. NBC Washington reported that the number of juveniles arrested in Washington, D.C., has risen every year since 2000, with over 2,000 minors arrested in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, juveniles made up 51.8% of robbery arrests, according to police, adding that almost 60% of those arrested for carjacking in 2025 are also juveniles. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith said the uptick in juvenile crime was one reason she helped establish a Juvenile Investigative Response Unit within the agency. "Recently, we have seen an increase in fights in our schools and more serious criminal offenses outside of our schools," Smith said in April. "And we have seen an increase in juvenile suspects involved in criminal offenses district-wide." Jachym said the D.C. City Council needs to go a step further and ensure minors are held accountable for any criminal behavior because, right now, she feels it's a "crime utopia." "I mean, if you're old enough to walk around with a gun and pull a trigger, you're old enough for the consequences," Jachym said. "And these things that the council have in place are not working. Then what's the alternative? Have more people killed, raped, robbed, carjacked? It's just, you know, it's really scary." More recently, two juveniles were arrested after allegedly assaulting a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee in Washington, D.C. The Metropolitan Police Department announced that a 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl face carjacking charges after Edward Coristine was beaten Aug. 3 at around 3 a.m. Authorities said the teens tried to carjack Coristine and a woman identified as his significant other. Police said Coristine got the woman inside of the vehicle while he confronted the group of people, which led to the attack.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Trump is right about crime in Washington – my son's killing proves it
Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, was killed in a drive-by shooting on the evening of June 30 while undertaking a summer internship at a congressman's office in the nation's capital. Following Eric's death, his mother, Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, 62, never heard from Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC. 'I never heard from her. Never a letter, never a call. That was a slap in the face,' the married mother of three told The Telegraph. 'As far as I'm concerned, she thought Eric was a piece of dirt. 'You couldn't even have someone pen you a letter and sign your name to it? She has no class.' The University of Massachusetts Amherst student was one of several victims of gun violence mentioned by Donald Trump as he announced plans earlier this week to take federal control of the city's police department. When Mr Trump invoked Eric's killing, Ms Tarpinian-Jachym said it made her feel like her son 'didn't die in vain'. 'I was looking at his urn and a picture next to it of his beautiful, blue eyes. I cried and I said: 'Eric, you didn't die in vain. You're not a number. They're going to do something. They're going to get control of these criminals doing these dangerous acts.'' On Monday, the president announced he was deploying 800 National Guard troops to Washington and temporarily taking over the city's police department, as he vowed to 'rescue our nation's capital from crime'. The impetus for his decision appeared to be an attack last week on Edward Coristine, a 19-year-old Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) staffer nicknamed 'Big Balls', who was left bloodied and bruised in an attempted carjacking. 'He's lucky to be alive,' Mr Trump said. National Guard troops descended on the National Mall on Tuesday evening, joining hundreds of law enforcement officers who reported having made dozens of arrests since the start of the 30-day operation. Mr Trump has said that the law enforcement blitz in Washington DC could serve as a blueprint to expand his effort s to other Democrat-run cities such as Chicago that he claims have been overrun by crime. The move has been met with pushback from Democrats and members of the public accusing Mr Trump of an authoritarian power grab. Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, dismissed Mr Trump's clampdown, sharing a department of justice press release from January showing violent crime in the city is at a 30-year low. 'As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify deploying the National Guard in DC, here's reality,' the Democratic former presidential candidate wrote on X. Ms Bowser has called Mr Trump's deployment of officers in her city 'unsettling and unprecedented', casting his actions as part of an 'authoritarian push'. One DC resident was charged with assault on Sunday for hurling a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer and yelling: 'I don't want you in my city!' Meanwhile groups of demonstrators flocked to a law enforcement checkpoint in the capital, with hecklers yelling: 'Go home, fascists' and 'Get off our streets'. Despite White House claims that Washington DC is 'anything but safe', overall crime so far this year is down by seven per cent from 17,136 to 15,921 compared to last year, according to official statistics which the president rejects. The capital was rocked by a surge in violent crime in 2023, which included the city's highest number of homicides since the late 1990s and a near-doubling of reported carjackings compared to the previous year. However, both have fallen dramatically following the implementation of a host of initiatives and law changes to deal with violent offenders. So far this year, violent crime is down 26 per cent on last year and 35 per cent since 2023. Yet Democrats' efforts to dismiss Mr Trump's crackdown on crime fail to appreciate the public mood over perceived lawlessness in the capital. Videos of masked young people ransacking shops in the capital are commonplace on social media, with teenagers making off with whole wardrobes-full of clothes and leaving products strewn across the pavements. Last year, Washington DC had the fourth-highest homicide rate in the country – nearly six times higher than New York City. And despite overall crime declining between 2023 and 2024, the percentage of residents who said crime is a very or extremely serious problem rose from 56 per cent to 65 per cent, according to a Washington Post poll. The crime statistics themselves have been a source of controversy, with Mr Trump telling reporters on Thursday that city officials have been placed 'under investigation' for producing 'phoney crime stats'. Republicans responded to criticism of the measures by saying that the capital should be 'a symbol of safety and strength' and accusing the city's Democrat-run council of pursuing a 'radical, soft-on-crime agenda'. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that 'every American should be able to visit and enjoy Washington DC without fear'. Meanwhile Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the capital, hit back at questions over the drop in crime rate, saying: 'It's never enough', pointing to Eric's killing. 'You tell the mother of the intern who was shot going out for McDonald's near the Washington Convention Centre, 'Oh, crime is down.'' Of particular concern are young offenders, with the number of juveniles arrested in the capital increasing every year since 2020, according to statistics from 2024. Juveniles accounted for 51.8 per cent of all robbery arrests in 2024, according to the city's police department, while the majority of carjackings in the year ending in July 2025 have been carried out by juveniles. In the case of Mr Coristine, two 15-year-olds have been charged with unarmed carjacking. Yet for Ms Tarpinian-Jachym, the search for justice over her son's death continues. The retired occupational therapist welcomed Mr Trump's law and order crackdown, saying the influx of officers would free up the police to fight crime rather than spending time in court and doing paperwork. Her message to the president's critics? 'It's four weeks of your life. If people don't want to be safe, my question is why? 'I just want people to realise that it's about everybody in DC. My son is gone, it's not going to bring him back, but it may prevent another family from going through the living hell we go through every day.'
Fox News
3 days ago
- Fox News
Mother of slain congressional intern says DC Council needs to do more to hold violent juveniles accountable
The mother of Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, who was shot and killed in June, said the D.C. City Council needs to do more to hold violent juveniles accountable.
Fox News
07-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'He didn't deserve this': Mother of slain congressional intern speaks out on DC's violent crime surge
WARNING: Graphic Footage. Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, mother of slain congressional intern Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, speaks out on the violent crime surge in Washington, D.C., that claimed her son's life.
Fox News
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Mother of slain congressional intern says DC Council treats violent crime like a 'joke' amid unsolved killing
The mother of a congressional intern killed in a drive-by shooting one month ago harshly criticized the Washington, D.C., Council, saying its residents "are not being protected." According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was shot June 30 at around 10:28 p.m. He died at an hospital July 1. Tarpinian-Jachym was in Washington, D.C., as an intern for Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan. Police said the shooting, which didn't target Tarpinian-Jachym, also left a 16-year-old male and an adult female injured. As of Friday, no suspects are in custody. The shooting happened in the 1200 block of 7th Street, Northwest, near the Mt Vernon Sq 7th St-Convention Center Metro stop. Several people exited a car and began shooting, killing Tarpinian-Jachym. Eric's mother, Tamara Jachym, told Fox News Digital she feels the D.C. Council is treating violent crime like a "joke." "Your constituents are dying. They're getting killed and maimed. … This isn't OK. And it's not. I'm speaking for everybody. I'm angry that this is happening," Jachym said. "These people are not being protected. "The council needs to work with the federal government and stop this stuff and stop their pettiness. Get the money to hire the cops, to pay them the overtime, to get more people on the force. This isn't a joke anymore. People are getting killed. I don't care what color you are. I don't care if you have money or not." Jachym said Eric was an "old soul" who would often visit elderly people in his area. "He enjoyed people. He was really, he really liked older people, like, you know, elderly people. He would help them. He would stop by and talk to them. I think because he wanted to learn, like, knowledge-wise. He liked everybody, and it didn't matter where you came from, what your background was, if you were rich or poor or working class, if you had a disability," Jachym said. "He was just a good kid, and he loved life." Former homicide Det. Ted Williams told Fox News Digital arrests are harder to make in investigations such as this one, because police are starting from scratch. "Drive-by shootings are always very difficult to resolve. And, yet, there are a lot of individuals who know a great deal and who, and some of these individuals, these witnesses, actually know who the shooter or shooters are. But because of the intimidation factor here in the District of Columbia, you'll find that these individuals will remain silent," Williams said. Estes said in an earlier statement to Fox News Digital Tarpinian-Jachym would be remembered for his "kind heart." I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile," Estes said in a statement. "We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas' 4th District and the country. Please join Susan and me in praying for his family and respecting their privacy during this heartbreaking time." The FBI and Metropolitan Police Department are offering a $40,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction and are encouraging them to contact 202-727-9099.
