Two teenagers responsible for brutally assaulting a former Department of Energy staffer known as ‘Big Balls’ have been sentenced to less than a year of probation, sparking concerns as they remain free to walk the streets.

Nineteen-year-old Edward Coristine fell victim to an attempted carjacking by a group of youths on August 3, amidst the crime-plagued streets of Washington DC at 3 a.m.

The attackers, a boy and a girl, both 15 years old and hailing from Hyattsville, Maryland, admitted to charges of simple assault. Due to their ages, their identities are protected by law.

During a court hearing on Tuesday, the male teen received a 12-month probation sentence, while the female was given a nine-month probation term.

As part of their sentencing, the teenagers are prohibited from contacting each other and are restricted from entering Washington DC unless it is related to school, work, or family commitments.

The judge in the Democrat-run city said that the purpose of juvenile court was to rehabilitate, not punish offenders.

Coristine, who rose to national prominence for his leadership of Elon Musk’s DOGE team and his bawdy high school nickname, was left bloody, badly beaten and fearing he was concussed after the attempted carjacking. 

He was jumped by around ten youths but the others who took part in the assault have not been identified and remain at large. 

Edward Coristine, 19, was attacked by a gang of youths during an attempted carjacking on the crime-ravaged streets of Washington DC at 3am on August 3

Coristine, who rose to national prominence for his leadership of Elon Musk’s DOGE team and his high school nickname, was left bloody, badly beaten and fearing he was concussed after the attempted carjacking

Days after the attack, Donald Trump deployed the National Guard in the nation’s capital as a response to concerns over raging crime.

He has since frequently remarked that DC feels much safer, and that politicians have told him that they are now able to go out for dinner with their spouses without fear.

‘It’s like a different place, it’s a different city,’ Trump said earlier this year, adding: ‘Everybody’s safe now.’ 

The president formally federalized DC in a safety and ‘beautification’ effort.

Beyond crime, Trump also hoped to rid the streets of the homeless and clean up the graffiti.

On August 11, Trump announced in a news conference from the White House he was invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act in order to place MPD under federal control.

Violent crime declined sharply following the deployment of National Guar, homicides and assaults were down by around 25 percent compare to previous weeks.

Trump has since launched National Guard crime crackdowns in another Democrat-run cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis and Portland.

A member of the Army National Guard gives a thumbs-up to the camera as they patrol the National Mall on October 12

US President Donald Trump speaks while visiting federal troops at the US Park Police Anacostia operations facility in Washington, DC, on August 21

People protest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as law enforcement officers walk out of the gates to guard vehicles leaving the facility on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025, in Portland, Ore

The deployments have met furious resistance from Democrat leaders who claim that the president’s actions are unconstitutional. 

An appeals court ruled Saturday that troops Trump sent to Illinois can remain there under federal control but can’t be deployed, and granted a pause in the case until it hears further arguments.

The ruling came two days after US District Judge April Perry in Chicago blocked the deployment of troops in Chicago for at least two weeks. The Justice Department appealed the next day.

The judge said the Trump administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection, when he ordered National Guard troops to the city.

In a written order Friday explaining her rationale, Perry noted the nation’s long aversion to having military involvement in domestic policing.

‘Not even the Founding Father most ardently in favor of a strong federal government’ – Alexander Hamilton – ‘believed that one state´s militia could be sent to another state for the purposes of political retribution,’ Perry wrote.

Hamilton called that notion ‘preposterous.’

‘The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago,’ Gov. JB Pritzker said.

Members of National Guard patrol outside a Bass Pro Shops, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. 

Illinois State Police move in to make detentions after declaring an unlawful assembly outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Ill., Saturday, Oct. 11

Another court battle in Oregon earlier delayed a similar troop deployment to Portland. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in that case Thursday.

Lt. Cmdr. Teresa Meadows, a spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command, said the troops sent to Portland and Chicago are ‘not conducting any operational activities at this time.’

Five hundred guard members from Texas and Illinois arrived this week at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago, and have been activated for 60 days.

They started patrolling Thursday morning behind portable fences outside the ICE Broadview facility.

A federal judge late Thursday ordered ICE to remove a separate 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter) fence outside the Broadview facility after the Village of Broadview said it illegally blocks a public street.

Also Thursday, another federal judge in Illinois temporarily ordered federal agents to wear badges and banned them from using certain riot-control weapons against peaceful protesters and journalists outside the ICE facility, about 12 miles (19 kilometers) west of Chicago.

In Chicago, federal prosecutors have obtained a grand jury indictment against a woman and man accused of using their vehicles to strike and box in a Border Patrol agent´s vehicle last Saturday.

The agent exited his car and fired five shots at Marimar Martinez, 30, who was treated at a hospital. The indictment filed Thursday formalizes charges of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon – a vehicle. Anthony Ruiz, 21, is also charged.