Washington, D.C
WATCH: Lyft driver assaults rabbi moments after picking him up in Dupont Circle
Rabbi assaulted by rideshare driver in Dupont Circle
D.C. police are searching for this Lyft driver, who was caught on camera assaulting a rabbi in Dupont Circle in broad daylight.
WASHINGTON – D.C. police are searching for a Lyft driver who was caught on camera assaulting a rabbi in Dupont Circle in broad daylight.
Rabbi Menachem Shemtov says it was just after morning prayers around 10 a.m. Sunday when the rideshare driver pulled up to him on Leroy Place, Northwest, just north of Dupont Circle.
Shemtov got in the car and the driver made a right turn before suddenly pulling off the road just a block away and telling Shemtov to get out because he didn’t like his “energy.” Then it turned violent.
Shemtov is the rabbi at Chabad Georgetown where he teaches students to be proud of their Judaism.
He says when he got out of the car, the driver called him “weird” and started hitting him. He tried to get a picture of the license plate when the driver knocked the car door into him and started hitting him with his keys – cutting Shemtov’s face above and below his right eye.
“I did not think it would happen in our nation’s capital and through an authorized rideshare of all places,” Shemtov said. “I hope that it won’t happen again. This is a time when we have to be careful and look at our surroundings and make sure that no one’s out to get us. Just continue being who we are and not let this intimidate us in any way and I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Lyft says they unequivocally condemn the behavior. They have deactivated the driver and encouraged riders and drivers to report safety concerns.
Police say the case is still open and the driver remains at large. Anyone with information is asked to contact MPD.
WASHINGTON – Officials with the Arkansas National Guard said 100 soldiers have been deployed to Washington, D.C.
Officials said the Thursday deployment was of 100 members of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The deployment is federally funded, they added.
The deployed soldiers are part of a routine rotational relief for members of the Arkansas Guard’s 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, currently in Washington.
They are deployed to assist the metropolitan police force as part of the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful” summer operation, officials said. Duties for the mission include visible presence patrols aimed at reducing crime and maintaining public safety, officials added.
Washington, D.C
If and when Trump’s name is removed from the Kennedy Center, you can watch it live – WTOP News
The livestreaming camera is situated across the street from the Kennedy Center in an undisclosed location. Its lens is trained on the front of the building, where the removal is expected take place.
A group opposed to the installation of Donald Trump’s name on the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has installed a remote camera so people can watch the removal live if and when it happens. The administration has been ordered to remove Trump’s name by Friday.
The livestreaming camera is situated across the street from the Kennedy Center in an undisclosed location. Its lens is trained on the front of the building, where the removal is expected take place.
Late last month, a federal judge in D.C. ordered Trump’s name be removed from the building and a two-year closure for renovations also be stopped.
“I was actually listening to WTOP in the car. I recorded it because I was so happy when I heard it,” said Chris Raleigh with the group Hands Off the Arts, referring to the announcement that the administration must remove Trump’s name from the building.
The president’s name has already been removed from the official government website and related printed and digital branding.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled that the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees exceeded its authority when it unilaterally rebranded the institution as the “Trump Kennedy Center.” Cooper ruled Trump’s name must be removed by Friday, June 12.
“The president meant it as a symbol of domination, that I am in charge, that this is what I want, and I don’t care what anyone else wants,” said Raleigh.
His group is running the live camera because if Trump’s name is removed in the middle of the night, they will have footage of it and people can see it.
“I think we were all upset as a city and as a country when we saw Trump illegally put his name up there because it’s a memorial to a president who was killed in the line of duty,” Raleigh said.
The judge ruled that Congress created and named the Kennedy Center and that only Congress has the authority to rename it.
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — Oregon will not participate in President Donald Trump’s upcoming Great American State Fair in Washington, D.C.
Washington state also opted out of the fair, which is organized by Freedom 250, a nonprofit aligned with Trump.
Organizers say all 50 states and U.S. territories will still be represented when the event begins June 25.
READ ALSO | PHOTOS: White House prepares for UFC spectacle ahead of America’s 250th birthday
In a statement to KATU, Gov. Tina Kotek’s office said Oregon withdrew because of “the cost of participating in the Fair and growing concerns that the event in Washington, D.C. is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented.”
Despite the decision, Kotek’s office said the state remains committed to celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“The Governor will still be proudly celebrating America’s semiquincentennial here in Oregon and is looking forward to all of the great exhibitions and events the America 250 Oregon Commission will be planning through the summer and beyond,” the statement said.
The Great American State Fair is scheduled to open June 25 in the nation’s capital as part of celebrations marking the United States’ semiquincentennial.
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