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Vigil held for DC man fatally shot by police in Southeast – WTOP News

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Vigil held for DC man fatally shot by police in Southeast – WTOP News


A candlelit vigil was held Friday by Black Lives Matter and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, to remember Justin Robinson, who was fatally shot by D.C. police.

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil
Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

Mourners honored Justin Robinson at a candlelight vigil Friday in Southeast D.C. after he was fatally shot outside a McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue.
(WTOP/Matt Kaufax)

WTOP/Matt Kaufax

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A candlelit vigil was held Friday evening by Black Lives Matter and Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, to remember 26-year-old Justin Robinson, who was fatally shot by D.C. police last Sunday.

Chants of “Justice for Justin!” were shouted out as hundreds of mourners returned to the scene where the shooting took place: the McDonald’s on Marion Barry Avenue in Southeast D.C.

A sea of people, balloons and lit candles could be seen for hundreds of yards, as D.C. police blocked off the street to let demonstrators conduct the vigil peacefully.

Speakers that included Justin Robinson’s family and community organizers said he was taken too soon.

“Our team and our community has been broken by this,” one speaker said. “Broken! And there’s no way to bring this young man back.”

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Police responded after Robinson crashed his car into the side of the McDonald’s around 5:30 a.m. last Sunday. The police department said officers found Robinson unresponsive in the car, with a firearm in his lap.

After some time, officers said Robinson was moving around in the vehicle with the gun. He was shot after being told repeatedly by officers to drop the weapon, and even grabbing at the gun of another D.C. police officer when he was approached.

Robinson worked at the D.C. Attorney General’s Office in their “Cure the Streets” violence interruption program.

Many speakers Friday evening talked about how he made it his business to de-escalate violent situations and preach peace.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing, and body cam footage may still be released. The officers who fired at Robinson have been placed on administrative leave.

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Washington, D.C

Man killed by stray shot into his Northwest DC home

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Man killed by stray shot into his Northwest DC home


A stray shot flew into a man’s home in Northwest D.C. on Sunday evening and killed him, police say they believe according to an initial investigation.

The man was 59-year-old Jose Carcamo of Northwest D.C.

Officers were called to an apartment building in the 1500 block of Ogden Street, in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, at about 6:20 p.m., Executive Asst. Chief Andre Wright told reporters later Sunday.

The man was found in an apartment suffering from a gunshot wound. D.C. medics treated the man but he died, Wright said, calling his death “tragic.”

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D.C. police have not yet made any arrests, but they say Carcamo was not the intended target.

“We don’t believe that this shooting, which happened in the rear of this location, has anything to do with him,” Wright said.

It started as a normal Sunday evening. Carcamo was eating dinner at his home in Columbia Heights. His mom was in another room when she heard the sound of gunshots and rushed to check on him, only to realize he’d been killed.

Carcamo’s mom lives in El Salvador and had to come to D.C. to spend Mother’s Day with her son.

He worked in construction and was in the process of building a house for her in their home country.

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Officers were searching for clues and working to speak with potential witnesses. No information on a suspect was released.

Police will seek justice for the victim, his family and his community, Wright said.

“We can’t shrink in fear. I think that’s what these perpetrators want – but they’re wrong. And so we intend to stand alongside this family and community and bring justice to this community, and for as long as it takes, stay here to help restore the sense of peace that every community deserves,” he said.

Anyone with potentially relevant information is asked to contact police. A $25,000 reward for information is available.

Police say they’re now trying to find surveillance video to help with the investigation, as Carcamo’s mom is now left to grieve her son.

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D.C. crime statistics show homicides are down 8% this year compared to the same period last year, with 61 victims this year and 66 last year. Reports of violent crime are down 22%.

Police records show in the past five years, the area around Ogden Street has had seven homicides, 52 assaults with a dangerous weapon and 101 robberies.

One neighbor said it’s why he’s planning to move out.

“People want to feel safe in their neighborhoods, and I just have not ever felt safe in this one,” said neighbor Nacho Echazarreta.

Several other neighbors didn’t want to be identified but also told News4 they feel unsafe in the area.

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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to visit Washington DC from May 27-29 to meet senior US officials; what's on agenda? | Today News

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Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to visit Washington DC from May 27-29 to meet senior US officials; what's on agenda? | Today News


India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri will go on a three-day visit to Washington DC, US to meet with senior officials of the Donald Trump administration, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

Misri will be in the US capital from May 27 to May 29, the MEA said in a release on the day.

“Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri will be visiting Washington, D.C., USA from 27-29 May 2025 to meet with senior officials of the US Administration,” it noted.

Misri’s visit is a follow up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US earlier in February to meet President Donald Trump, the MEA said.

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“The visit is a follow up to Prime Minister’s visit to the United States in February 2025, when both sides had launched the India-US COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century,” the release noted.

What is India-US COMPACT?

During their meeting in February, PM Modi and President Trump reaffirmed the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. As a testament to the deepening ties of the countries, the leaders had together launched the “US-India COMPACT” (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century, aimed at driving transformative progress across key sectors.

“Today, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi launched a new initiative – the “U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century” – to drive transformative change across key pillars of cooperation,” the White House said in a joint statement.

“Under this initiative, they committed to a results-driven agenda with initial outcomes this year to demonstrate the level of trust for a mutually beneficial partnership,” it added.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met in the US in February, the leaders had committed to designate senior representatives to advance these negotiations and to ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce and Technology).

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diverse pride groups converge on DC with differing interests but common goals

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diverse pride groups converge on DC with differing interests but common goals


You’ve heard of twofers. Kenya Hutton is a “threefer.”

His parents are immigrants, he’s a Black man and he’s gay — at a moment in history when anti-immigrant fervor, racism and anti-LGBTQ feelings are rampant and amplified by Trump administration policies.

Hutton is hardly alone.

As members of the Black and Latino LGBTQ and transgender and other communities come to the nation’s capital for World Pride in the coming days, many are under siege from multiple directions thanks to their multiple identities. They will hold individualized programs and celebrations that blend into World Pride.

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Their mutual jeopardy will be a unifying theme. The celebrations, music, food, parades, plays and parties will unfold against a backdrop of human rights and political strategizing and, in some cases, discussions about how to survive in a climate that contains many people who do not want them around.

“I always tell folks that DC was the perfect place to have World Pride,” Hutton said. “We have so many different identity prides here in D.C., from Black Pride to Trans Pride to API Pride, Latinx Pride, Military Pride, Women’s Pride, Silver Pride, we have so many different groups of people that have their own pride celebration.”

Looking for solutions to an ‘intersectional’ problem

Frankie Miranda, the first openly gay president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, says immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community have been “in triage mode for months” as they defend “a multiapproach attack on many members of our community from different sides.”

Miranda, who is Puerto Rican, said immigrant families are being separated and the LGBTQ community targeted. After years of progress, those efforts are being eroded and “fundamental rights challenged and taken away,” he said. “It’s a reminder of how much work we still have ahead and of how we must work in an intersectional way.“

Miranda urged Pride events to have direct calls to action and take a more political approach this year, including by looking to the 2026 elections.

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Susan Appleton, professor of women, gender. and sexuality studies at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said the nation’s culture and society, “including law,” have always regulated gender, race and other identities. But, she said, “I think we’re in a very unusual time when the targets have become very explicit and when for many years we haven’t seen the lack of empathy that we see now.”

“But I do think it’s encouraging to me to see that there is a vigorous resistance,” she said. “I don’t know whether it will accomplish anything, but I think it is important to make sure that all voices are heard.”

That people are facing multiple grievances, she said, now shows “it’s not sufficient to look at race alone or gender alone or sexuality alone but all those factors.” They intersect and “create unique vectors of oppression.”

People at the intersections between the Latino community and immigrant communities “face attacks from all sides,” said Dee Tum-Monge, a board member for the Latinx History Project, the steering organization for Latinx Pride. World Pride is aiming “to create spaces focused around community care and political organizing while still celebrating our joy,” they say.

The focus, Tum-Monge said, is shifting away from just voting and federal action to work that attendees can do at local levels. Amid mounting threats to immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community, Tum-Monge said organizers are particularly concerned about security and will be watching for international participants who may face obstacles traveling.

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Statements as diverse as those making them

Although official events are kicking off now, programs that have begun suggest how diverse activities will be. The scene last week was almost solemn as people walked along the National Mall in sight of the Capitol, reading messages on some of the hundreds of quilts made by transgender people from around the country.

The “Freedom to Be” quilt project was there to raise awareness of the transgender community, which has been under fire from President Donald Trump. The messages ranged from defiance to hopes for acceptance. “I hope there are days when you fall in love with being alive,” said one. And on another: “THERE’S A LAND THAT I SEE WHERE THE CHILDREN SHOULD BE FREE.”

Abdool Corlette, head of brand for the American Civil Liberties Union and a co-creator of the project, said a message needed to be sent.

“We are seeing across the board an attempt to erase trans folks from all public life,” Corlette said. “And we knew that we need to take up space. We needed to memorialize people’s stories and do it in the literal backyard of the Capitol.”

Gillian Branstetter, his co-creator and communications strategist at the ACLU’s Women’s Project, said actions like the Republican president’s executive order that affects military personnel are abstract to some but have real impacts in the transgender community where health care is threatened, along with the loss of jobs and threats of violence.

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The scene was anything but solemn 3 miles north of the Mall, inside the student center at Howard University, one of the nation’s renowned historically Black universities. It was festive and bright, filled with joy and shouts of encouragement and music as members of various groups — called houses — competed in events that included fashion modeling and dance at the Cirque du Slay Ball.

One attendee, John Smith III (stage name IconFatty Prodigy), said the balls are modeled on Cirque du Soleil and are about community and safe spaces. Iran Paylor (stage name Bang Garcon) said the houses are places set up by LGBTQ communities to give safe spaces to others estranged from their families and ostracized within the Black community when they came out.

Black Pride is a key center of gravity

D.C. Black Pride began in 1975 at the ClubHouse, founded by members of the city’s LGBTQ community. Over the years, an event around Memorial Day became a tradition. The ClubHouse closed in 1990, but three members of the community kept the tradition going. The first Black Gay and Lesbian Pride event was held on May 25, 1991.

Hutton is the president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, founded in 1999 as a way to bring together all of the Black pride movements that were being created around the country following the model in Washington. There are 54 in the United States and 12 internationally, he said.

As a Black gay man, Hutton already had battles on multiple fronts. Now there is an additional category to worry about.

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“I’m also a child of immigrants, just to add that on top of my intersections,” he said. “I’m always paying attention to immigration conversations. It’s very hard navigating the world right now.”

But, he said, his responsibility is to use the access he has developed over the years to create safe spaces. “So even though it is difficult to navigate and listen to the news every day, I also understand that I’ve been given this task.”

The job has been hard this year. Sponsors have pulled out of the celebrations and he knows some international travelers are not coming due to fear they will have difficulties with law enforcement.

Hutton understands why various groups want individual activities; one version will not accommodate all audiences. But the cornerstone of Black pride is community. “We have the opportunity to really showcase all of these communities to the world,” he said.

In the end, he said, he wants one message to resound after the gathering of communities: “We’re not going anywhere.”

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“We’ll continue pushing our rights forward, not just for us in America,” Hutton said. “As someone told me, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. So we have to make sure that America doesn’t catch a cold.”



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