Washington, D.C
Letter from Washington DC, city of insecurity and fear
The capital of the United States, home of the government and an amazing number of armed teenagers, set a deplorable record last year: it became the city with the highest number of carjackings in the country per 100,000 residents.
Police reports show that on average, there were almost three carjackings a day – incidents when drivers had their cars taken away at gunpoint. The trend continued in the first month of 2024 – just two a day.
In absolute numbers – there were 958 carjackings in 2023 while 57 have already taken place in January.
Pistol-packing teenagers committed most of the violent thefts of occupied cars. Relatively few are arrested. In January, eight of the criminals involved in the 57 incidents were arrested.
Such numbers have instilled a pervasive sense of insecurity and fear among many residents. As one user put it in a tweet: “What’s scary about crime in DC these days is the randomness. You don’t need to be involved in drugs or gangs to get carjacked.”
The capital’s carjacking wave rarely makes national news except when the victims are prominent in politics or business. In October, Henry Cuellar, a Democratic congressman, recalled what happened to him when he returned to his home in the city’s trendy Navy Yard neighbourhood.
“I was just coming into my place. Three guys came out of nowhere and they pointed guns at me. I do have a (Karate) black belt but I recognise when you got three guns – I looked at one with a gun, another with a gun, and a third behind me. So they said they wanted my car. I said ‘sure’.”
Cuellar’s car and his cellphones were later recovered a few miles from where they were taken. The carjackers, thought to be in their mid-teens, disappeared and there were no arrests. Case closed.
But a more recent attempted carjacking had a bloodier outcome. On February 5, a former official of the Trump administration, Mike Gill, was shot dead while sitting in his car at 5 pm to pick up his wife from her law office in an upscale area of the city.
His wife found him on the sidewalk, his head in a pool of blood, one leg still inside his car. The assailant fled on foot and was shot and killed by police while attempting another carjack.
The wave of carjackings prompted city authorities and police into different actions. DC mayor Marion Bowser declared a public emergency in November and promised to improve monitoring of criminal activity. Police handed out free air tags to help victims of carjackings find their stolen cars.
A sweeping crime bill is under discussion by the 13-member City Council, the legislative branch of the District of Columbia. It dates back to the 1973 Home Rule Act which created a local government for the country’s capital. Council decisions can be overruled by Congress and DC citizens still have no representation there.
While the council discusses ways to stem crime – a bill is expected later this month – there is plenty of advice for citizens who live in fear. A local television station, extrapolating from police data, recently published a list that highlights how widespread crime has become.
The guidance boils down to advice to look over your shoulder wherever you go.
It stemmed from a crack cocaine epidemic in the city and turf wars between drug gangs in defined areas. Use was widespread. The capital’s mayor at the time, Marion Barry, was arrested in January 1990 smoking crack cocaine in a hotel room.
I arrived in Washington in 1998 and, like most residents, did not feel insecure and threatened by violence. Today’s security guidance emphasises that you can be a victim anywhere.
Carjackers find their victims anywhere and at any time with the following situations or locations more common:
· ATMs
· Gas stations
· Car washes
· Garages
· Parking lots
· Grocery stores
· Mass transit
· Intersections controlled by stop lights or signs
· Highway entrance and exit ramps, or any place where drivers slow down or stop
One of the fiercest critics of how the American capital is run has been former president Donald Trump, an extremely unpopular figure in a city which voted more than 90 per cent against him in the 2016 elections.
Trump is facing trial for criminal charges in Washington and has unsuccessfully tried to move the venue.
“No way I can get a fair trial, or even close to a fair trial, in Washington, DC. There are many reasons for this, but just one is that I am calling for a federal takeover of this filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment to our nation,” Trump said in a posting on his social network, Truth Social.
But letting the federal government run the city – the only capital of a country whose citizens have no representation in Congress – is unlikely to fix its problems. According to a series of surveys over the past few years, Americans are deeply distrustful of the federal government.
As former Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill put it: “Dysfunction and chaos are now in the political bloodstream,” and citizens “see this as part of normal, polarised, partisan politics in Washington”.
So, perhaps fixing the carjacking epidemic is better left to the city.
(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)
4 things to know about the weather:
- Abundant sunshine
- Temps slightly cooler than average
- No rain in sight — again
- Mid-week warmup
May is drawing to a dry, comfortable close, in stunning contrast to the very soggy Memorial Day weather we saw last weekend.
That 10-day stretch of rain put a definite dent in our drought, according to the weekly national drought monitor, but it seems that was the end of the improvement for a while: There’s almost no clouds in sight for the DMV for several days.
Enjoy the many hours of sunshine on Saturday. The high pressure coming in from the Hudson Bay brings a stiff north wind, but the day will also be sunny and comfortable, with highs in the mid 70s.
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
The wind will die down after dark, and Sunday morning will be bordering on chilly. Expect widespread mid/upper 40s in most of the D.C. area, with urban centers and bayside communities staying just above 50°. Sunday afternoon will be just a bit warmer, in the mid 70s, but with far less of a breeze.
Highs will be back around 80° for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with overnight lows in the comfy 50s. It’ll be a perfect start to meteorological summer (June/July/August).
QuickCast
TODAY:
Sunshine Abounds, Breezy
Wind: North 10-15mph, Gust to 25 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 75°
TONIGHT:
Clear Skies
Winds Diminish
Wind: Northwest 10-15 mph
Chance Of Rain: 0%
LOWS: 46° to 54°
SUNDAY:
Mostly Sunny Skies
Pleasant Conditions
Light Breeze
Wind: NW 5 – 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 70° to 76°
MONDAY:
Partly Cloudy
Seasonable
Light Breeze
Wind: West/Northwest 10 mph
Chance of Rain: 0%
HIGHS: 76° to 82°
Sunrise: 5:45 Sunset: 8:26
Average High: 80° Average Low: 63°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
WASHINGTON – A man is in critical condition after falling into the Anacostia River in Southwestern Washington, D.C., Friday night.
What we know:
D.C. Fire and EMS reported the rescue effort shortly after 10 p.m. at James Creek Marina in Buzzard Point.
Crews believe a man fell from the dock into the water.
By 10:30 p.m., crews were able to pull the man out of the water.
Paramedics took him to the hospital in critical condition.
What we don’t know:
Officials did not identify the man who was rescued. No other information was immediately available.
The Source: Information in this story is from the D.C. Fire and EMS Department.
Washington, D.C
DC’s baseball team faces potential DOJ probe after exec allegedly admitted to religious discrimination
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FIRST ON FOX — Washington, D.C.’s professional baseball franchise could come under Justice Department scrutiny after a viral video showed a team executive appearing to admit to his religious discrimination against a Christian player.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon to investigate alleged religious discrimination against players for the Washington Nationals, according to a letter sent Thursday to and first obtained by Fox News Digital.
The letter comes after Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe published a secretly recorded video of Washington Nationals Director of Community Relations Sean Hudson saying the team does not include pitcher Trevor Williams in certain social media promotion.
He cited the player’s public criticism of another Major League Baseball franchise for hosting a drag group mocking Catholics.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., is urging the Department of Justice to investigate alleged religious discrimination within the Washington Nationals organization and across Major League Baseball. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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“According to the reporting by James O’Keefe, it appears the Washington Nationals are engaged in unlawful religious discrimination,” Boebert told Fox News Digital in a written statement. “I urge the DOJ to take immediate and decisive action.”
A spokesperson for the Justice Department said they received Boebert’s letter.
“The Department is reviewing the matter and will evaluate all appropriate next steps. As always, we remain committed to enforcing federal law and protecting civil rights,” they told Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hudson, in the clandestine recording, pointed to Williams’ public objections to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence — a drag group that dresses as nuns — during the team’s 2023 “Pride Night.
The event also drew condemnation from multiple Catholic bishops, who described it as “blasphemous.”
Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals sits in the dugout before a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Wash., on May 28, 2025. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Williams said he found the group’s anti-Catholic demonstration featuring vulgar caricatures of the crucifixion and sacred rituals to be “deeply offensive,” in an interview with Bishop Robert Barron last year. The professional baseball player said he made the decision with his wife to speak out even though it would put “a target on our back.”
“Baseball stadiums should be a place where everyone feels welcomed, like 100%,” Williams said in the interview. “We should all feel welcomed there. But that was clearly against one certain religion. If you don’t draw the line in the sand, who’s gonna do it?”
According to Hudson, that public criticism of the drag group’s performance later affected Williams’ opportunities at the Nationals franchise.
“Because of that we don’t use him on social [media],” Hudson told an undercover journalist in the video. “When they’re like ‘is a hot dog a sandwich’ and the players come up, we don’t ask him.”
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Boebert said she is concerned that Hudson’s admission could mean the franchise violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on religion and other protected classes.
“Americans of faith should not face professional repercussions for objecting to the mockery of their sacred traditions,” the Colorado Republican said in the letter. “MLB’s privileged legal position should not become a license for exclusionary practices.”
“Sister Unity” and “Sister Dominia” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were honored on Pride Night before the MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on June 16, 2023. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire)
Hudson, in the video, described himself as “far-left leaning” and nonreligious. Meanwhile, he called Williams “super Catholic.”
The Washington Nationals executive also boasted about a Communist Party poster in his office and mused about pushing redistribution of wealth and other leftist agendas during baseball games at Nationals Park in Southeast Washington, D.C.
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“What a cool opportunity for us [Nationals] to also, be a little bit of like, the voice of reason,” Hudson said. “And a lot of people will tell you when I come to a baseball game, I don’t want to think about that s–t.”
“If you’re a sports fan and we piss you off, where else are you gonna go,” he went on. “I don’t give a sh–t.”
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