Tom Jackman

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering criminal justice locally and nationally

Education: University of Notre Dame, BA in English and American Studies

Tom Jackman has been covering crime and courts for The Washington Post since 1998, after handling similar beats at the Kansas City Star. Jackman helped lead the coverage of the D.C. sniper trials in 2003 and was the lead writer on The Post’s breaking news coverage of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, which won the Pulitzer Prize. More recently he focused on the police killing of an unarmed motorist in Fairfax County, Va., which resulted in two Park Police officers being indicted for manslaughter. In 2016, Jackman launched the True Crime blog, which looks at criminal justice issues and importan
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Latest from Tom Jackman

Video of D.C. police fatally shooting violence interrupter sparks protests

Anger was already simmering when footage was released of the fatal police shooting of Justin Robinson, 26, who worked as a violence interrupter in D.C.

September 11, 2024
Protesters gather Sunday at the D.C. McDonalds where Justin Robinson was killed by police.

Md. Supreme Court upholds decision to reinstate Adnan Syed murder conviction

The decision is the latest twist in a long legal drama that has surrounded “Serial” podcast subject Adnan Syed since his murder conviction in 2000.

August 30, 2024
Adnan Syed, center, leaves the Elijah E. Cummings Courthouse in Baltimore in 2022.

Remains of missing Va. mother still unknown as husband appears in court

This week marks one month since Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a mother and pediatric nurse, was last seen.

August 29, 2024
Friends, families and strangers created a makeshift memorial, pictured Wednesday, on the curb outside the Bhatt’s Manassas Park home.

Probe of high-profile ‘swatting’ incidents leads to men in Serbia, Romania

Two men have been charged with luring police to private homes of members of Congress and law enforcement leaders, with false claims of suicide, bombs and hostages.

August 28, 2024
Police often respond when a false emergency call is made, sometimes with bad results. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

Man who attacked Connolly staff found not guilty by reason of insanity

Xuan Kha Tran Pham suffers from mental illness and will be held in a state mental hospital until a judge finds he is restored to full health.

August 26, 2024
A law enforcement officer surveys the office of Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., in Fairfax, Va., on May 15, 2023, after police say a man wielding a baseball bat attacked two staffers for Connolly.

Man who violently fought cops gets 2nd-longest Jan. 6 sentence: 20 years

David Dempsey came prepared for battle, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty this year to two counts of assaulting police with dangerous or deadly weapons.

August 9, 2024
At the height of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, David N. Dempsey is seen on surveillance video launching a burst of bear spray at police officers. Dempsey pleaded guilty to two felony counts of assaulting police.

Maryland ban on assault-style weapons upheld by U.S. appeals court

Fourth Circuit appeals court says law banning assault-style weapons comports with Second Amendment and Supreme Court precedent on legal use for self-defense.

August 6, 2024
Different style AR-15 weapons are displayed in Colorado.

Judge orders U.S. to return spear, helmet to ‘QAnon Shaman’

The renowned helmet and spear-tipped flagpole are no longer needed as evidence against Chansley since he has already served his sentence, a federal judge ruled.

August 5, 2024
Jacob A. Chansley, right, is confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers inside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A judge has ordered that Chansley's helmet and spear, with a flag attached by zip-tie, be returned by the government.

Florida lawyer admits trying to ignite bomb outside Chinese Embassy in D.C.

Christopher Rodriguez admitted he shot, and missed, his explosive target outside the Chinese Embassy. He succeeded with a similar method in San Antonio in 2022.

August 2, 2024
Christopher Rodriguez, in a photo from surveillance video, walks out of a store after purchasing a “burner phone” in Charlottesville, which he then used to call cabs as he moved around D.C. before and after trying to ignite a bomb outside the Chinese Embassy last September.

NIH ban on animal testing comments violates speech rules, court says

NIH used certain keywords, such as “animal” and “testing,” to block comments on its social media posts, which the appeals court said was too restrictive.

August 1, 2024
Madeline Krasno, an animal rights advocate, won a ruling from the federal appeals court in D.C. that the National Institutes of Health wrongly deleted her comments, which opposed animal testing, from their Facebook and Instagram posts.