Jeanine Pirro watched masked teenagers throw chairs inside a Washington DC Chipotle last Saturday night.
Now she's coming for their parents.
And she already has a list of names.
The DC Council Chair Who Handed Teens a Free Pass
Before Pirro could even get to the parents, she had to deal with Phil Mendelson.
Mendelson is the Chairman of the DC City Council.
In early April – heading into spring break, with Navy Yard already seeing violent teen mobs gathering – Mendelson moved to kill the vote on extending the youth curfew.
The curfew lapsed for six straight days while DC public school students were on spring break.
Bowser called it exactly what it was: her council going "back to soft-on-crime policies."
Pirro went on Fox News and blasted Mendelson directly.
"The DC Council that is responsible for the teen crime based upon the inept laws that they have passed has basically said, you know what?" she told viewers – and left them to finish the sentence.
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Mendelson's own explanation made it worse.
"I'm not interested in giving them any talking points or ammunition," he told reporters – meaning he was more worried about Republicans criticizing him than about teenagers with guns terrorizing DC neighborhoods.
The DC Council ultimately passed a permanent curfew on May 5 – seven weeks late and weakened by a last-minute amendment from Councilmember Brianne Nadeau blocking police from taking curfew violators to a detention center.
By May 17, teenagers were brawling inside a Chipotle and a 14-year-old was getting shot in Detroit.
Pirro's Warning Is Not a Press Release – It's a Prosecution Plan
Parents have heard "accountability" talk before.
This is different.
Pirro announced the parental prosecution policy on Friday, May 15.
The next day, teens trashed the Chipotle anyway.
Pirro was back at the podium Monday – and she wasn't backing down.
"This is criminal conduct," she said. "These are not kids being kids."
The Metropolitan Police Department handed Pirro the names of teenagers who have already violated DC's youth curfew more than once, and those parents, she said, are "already on my list."
Under existing DC law, parents whose minor children engage in illegal conduct during a takeover face up to six months in prison for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
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Each curfew violation tied to a takeover carries a $500 fine – per violation, not per event.
Parents, not American taxpayers, pay for the property damage their kids cause.
Charges can be filed against parents even if the juvenile is never prosecuted.
That last part closes the loophole that let parents shrug and say "the DA didn't charge my kid" while the restaurant they trashed got left holding the bill.
The FBI is now investigating the Chipotle brawl, and prosecutors are looking specifically at parents who drop their children off at these takeovers and drive away – including parents who live in Maryland and Virginia.
"You are not a bystander in this crisis," Pirro said.
This Is What Years of Soft-on-Crime Governance Produces
Here is what one weekend in the nation's capital looks like in May 2026.
Law enforcement seized 32 guns in DC over the weekend – guns Pirro attributed to teenagers.
Juveniles made up 51.8% of DC robbery arrests in 2024, and nearly 60% of carjacking suspects in 2025 were also juveniles.
https://twitter.com/RedWavePress/status/2056358009878548763?s=20
This is what happens when Phil Mendelson worries more about Republican talking points than about a father named Rafael Jauregui, who took his seven children to a Nationals game Saturday, bought them dinner at Chipotle, and watched masked teenagers throw furniture at his family.
Pirro knows exactly who created this situation.
And she's not letting anyone forget it.
"Parents, do your job," she said Monday, "or we'll do ours."
Summer is five weeks away.
School lets out, temperatures rise, and these takeovers historically spike in frequency and violence from June through August.
Phil Mendelson already gave them a free spring break.
Jeanine Pirro is making sure he doesn't give them a free summer.
Sources:
- Troy Myers, "DC Cracking Down on 'Teen Takeovers,' Will Begin Prosecuting Parents," The Epoch Times, May 19, 2026.
- "Massive Brawl Erupts Inside DC Chipotle Days After Pirro Parent Crackdown," Fox News, May 19, 2026.
- "Pirro Targets Parents in Teen Takeover Crackdown," Fox 5 DC, May 19, 2026.
- "DC's Soft-on-Crime Leaders Let Teens Run Wild," Fox News, August 15, 2025.
- "DC Mayor Muriel Bowser Says DC Council Is Going 'Soft on Crime,'" WTOP, April 2, 2026.
- "DC Council Postpones Vote on Juvenile Curfew, Allowing Measure to Expire," The Washington Times, April 1, 2026.
