Exclusive: D.C. Residents Fear Crime Surge Turning Area into U.S. War Zone
Many Washington, DC, residents cannot walk their dog, enjoy a local park, or pick up groceries without fear of being stabbed, robbed, or gunned down in the District, a 68 square mile area that local residents described as a “war zone” to Breitbart News.
Just this week, five homicides occurred in 35 hours in three separate highly trafficked areas of the city: Benning neighborhood in Southeast, Capitol Hill in Northeast, and Brightwood in Northwest. One of them entailed a former Democrat staffer for a District council member. Another shocking incident occurred Monday when four men jumped out of a car in the well-to-do Wharf neighborhood with guns drawn to rob restaurantgoers, Metropolitan Police Department footage showed.
Crime soared in 2022 after U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves refused to prosecute 67 percent of those arrested. In turn, 222 criminal homicides occurred in 2023, a 35 percent increase from the same period in 2022, according to police statistics. The District eclipsed 200 killings on August 12, the earliest point since the late 1990s.
The District currently ranks 173 in safety on a list of 182 American cities, dropping from last year’s 168 spot, according to a study recently released by WalletHub.
Several District residents shared their crime stories with Breitbart News but asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retribution. One District resident recounted how he suffered a minor concussion in 2023 after juveniles assaulted him while walking on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Northeast. The incident occurred near the H Street corridor, located just north of the Capitol Building. Residents in the area often see storefronts smashed and homeless defecating on the sidewalk.
“Unprovoked, one of the juveniles ran up behind me, launched himself into the air, and slammed his fist into the back of my head,” the D.C. resident said. “It took the police fifteen minutes to reach me at the NoMa-Gallaudet Metro Station — an unacceptable amount of time. Even though the group could see me on the phone with emergency services, they continued to casually walk down the trail out of sight, with the assumed knowledge that there would be zero consequences for their actions.” …
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/10/21/d-c-residents-fear-crime-surge-turning-area-us-war-zone/