A federal grand jury has once again refused to indict someone arrested as part of President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown, dealing another blow to his handpicked prosecutor Jeanine Pirro.
Days after federal prosecutors were unable to secure a felony indictment against Subway sandwich hurler Sean Dunn, a grand jury has declined to indict another D.C. resident whom Pirro’s office had pursued.
Alvin Summers was charged with assault last week after attempting to drive an SUV onto the National Mall.
After being stopped by a U.S. Park Police officer, he reportedly then began to “speed-walk” away, and allegedly resisted arrest once the officer caught up with him.
According to the charging documents, Summers “swung his arms” and grabbed the officer “by the upper body with force,” which caused them both to fall to the ground.
But in the latest sign of legal pushback to Trump’s controversial law enforcement surge, Pirro, the former Fox News host who is now U.S Attorney for the District of Columbia, was unable to secure a federal indictment against Summers.
His lawyers have since filed a motion in court to dismiss the case.
“Given the grand jury’s decision, Mr. Summers should not be forced to live under the threat of later charges and rearrest,” the motion says.
“The charges against Mr. Summers were based on an allegation made by one officer who was wearing a body-worn camera. That officer’s testimony was rejected by the grand jury, presumably after reviewing the body-worn camera video.
“Allowing the government the possibility of re-bringing charges under these circumstances is prejudicial and unwarranted.”
The grand jury’s decision is another blow for the administration, three weeks after Trump moved to exert his authority in the nation’s capital by bringing in the National Guard and taking over D.C’s metropolitan police.
The controversial takeover has sparked daily protests on the streets of DC, with critics accusing the president of manufacturing a crime crisis for political gain.
It has also led to farcical scenes, such as scores of armed National Guards being made to pick up trash and work on dozens of ‘beautification and restoration’ projects across the district in the absence of widespread crime.
However, Trump insists his crackdown has made D.C a much safer place as he sets his sights on other Democrat-led cities such as Chicago, Baltimore and New York.
“In just a few weeks, President Trump has done more for D.C. residents than Democrats did in 50 years. And this can be replicated in other crime-ridden cities across the nation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday.
But despite a surge in arrests, Pirro’s office has struggled to secure a grand jury’s approval for even one indictment in federal court this month.
In one case, involving a D.C. resident accused of assaulting an FBI agent during an inmate swap with ICE, the federal grand jury in Washington voted “no” three times.
Pirro’s office subsequently said it would charge the woman, Sidney Reid, with a lesser misdemeanor version of the assault charge.
A similar reduced charge was issued for Sean Dunn, the former DOJ worker who threw a sandwich at an officer after an epic meltdown outside a Subway store earlier this month.
Images of Dunn’s confrontation went viral and prompted a PR blitz from the administration. The White House even released a video showing heavily armed agents carrying out his arrest, despite his attorney saying he had previously offered to surrender willingly.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Pirro’s office for comment.
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