crime

The healthcare disparities that exist in the Nation’s Capital have created barriers for citizens living with chronic disease, higher mortality rates, declining quality of life, untreated mental health issues, and diminishing social determinants of health. I will work to reverse the challenges across DC’s healthcare systems to assure access to comprehensive care models for all of its citizens by raising the standard of care and by investing in preventative, holistic, and patient focused practices.

District residents deserve to have an enhanced sense of security and access to safer public spaces for a more vibrant community, school, and work life. I will work effortlessly to identify and address strained community and law enforcement relationships, citizen safety concerns, failed youth advancement investments, robust gun violent and drug activities, with a multi-faceted and crime prevention approach that includes the proper staffing of all government applicable agencies, unbiased enforcement of the law, and community safety initiatives.

The needs and priorities of the community must be appropriately aligned with the responsible allocation of funding while also eliminating waste, and spending inefficiencies.

Are those in your inner circle “born to be pedophiles”? In reference to being “born a criminal,” does it take one to know one? Are you some sort of verified expert on the matter? How would your parents feel if you were labeled “born to be criminal,” given your judicial track record? Who among you are “born to be criminals”? Have you examined the repeated missteps, falsehoods, and entitled cronyism occurring within your very own realm of leadership?

As tax-paying citizens, we vehemently reject your continued attacks on our young people. If your intentions are to truly address the crime in Washington, DC, it would be great if you would restore the $1.1 billion dollars that was erroneously taken from tax-paying DC citizens by your colleagues in the House of Representatives, and commit to holding our local elected leadership to higher standards of crime management.

You appear to believe that you have inherent rights of immunity to announce to the world that Washington, DC’s young people are “born to be criminals”.

In your September 2, 2025 media briefing you made reference to the young people of Washington, DC as being “born to be criminals”. How unbecoming of a leader. Our young people are born to mothers and fathers whom many have, in my opinion, haphazardly helped to vote you back into office. Since our young people are the offspring of many Americans who have deemed you qualified and fit to lead, it remains shocking that you would throw these parents under the bus to justify your questionable demonstration of militarized force in our city.

If in fact your deployment and use of the National Guard in the streets of Washington, DC is, as you have said, a necessary action, it would seem that your negligent depictions of our young people have caused you to contradict your supposed sound understanding of the actions you’ve chosen to take with the National Guard here in our city. Branding our young people as “born criminals” helps to influence their internalization of “being born criminals,” leading to a higher likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior due to lowered self-esteem and reduced opportunities for positive development.

Your continued absence of intellectual analyses of what lies at the root of the perpetrated crime in Washington, DC sets a low expectation for the qualifications of the office that you currently hold. Declaring that DC’s young people are “born to be criminals” perpetuates harmful stereotypes, hinders effective “non-militarized” intervention strategies, and damages the healthy implications of a civilized society.

Lawlessness has become commonplace in our present-day society. The permissive attitudes of the executive, and judiciary elected officials who legislate on a national level, I believe, sets the tone for this moral decay.

Criminals and anarchists who prey upon decent law-abiding citizens are too often rewarded for misconduct through never ending justification, and platitudes from those in high places who seem to have lost their concern for the vast segment of Americans that strongly believe in law and order.

We bear much of the “root causes” for the depredations committed in our streets, towns, and cities. The apparent absence of respect for the law on the part of the perpetrators of these offenses is a testament of our need as a society, and as elected leaders to always operate as accountable stewards responsibly demonstrating the proper standards of law that must be upheld.

We bear much of the “root causes” for the depredations committed in our streets, towns, and cities. The apparent absence of respect for the law on the part of the perpetrators of these offenses is a testament of our need as a society, and as elected leaders to always operate as accountable stewards responsibly demonstrating the proper standards of law that must be upheld.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will support a society, and a government in which there is an attitude of respect for the law, and for those who seek its enforcement. As an advocate for the citizens, I will always insist that the judiciary be ever mindful of their primary duty, and function of punishing the guilty, acknowledging the unhealthy, while also protecting the innocent.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will foster full support for law enforcement agencies, and officers at every level of government and situations in which their actions will not be unreasonably fettered by arbitrary judicial decrees.

Criminals and anarchists who prey upon decent law-abiding citizens are too often rewarded for misconduct through never ending justification, and platitudes from those in high places who seem to have lost their concern for the vast segment of Americans that strongly believe in law and order.

We bear much of the “root causes” for the depredations committed in our streets, towns, and cities. The apparent absence of respect for the law on the part of the perpetrators of these offenses is a testament of our need as a society, and as elected leaders to always operate as accountable stewards responsibly demonstrating the proper standards of law that must be upheld.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will support a society, and a government in which there is an attitude of respect for the law, and for those who seek its enforcement. As an advocate for the citizens, I will always insist that the judiciary be ever mindful of their primary duty, and function of punishing the guilty, acknowledging the unhealthy, while also protecting the innocent.

A Rhonda Hamilton’s Policy Position Statement on Crime and Disorder:

Lawlessness has become commonplace in our present-day society. The permissive attitudes of the executive, and judiciary elected officials who legislate on a national level, I believe, sets the tone for this moral decay.

Criminals and anarchists who prey upon decent law-abiding citizens are too often rewarded for misconduct through never ending justification, and platitudes from those in high places who seem to have lost their concern for the vast segment of Americans that strongly believe in law and order.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will foster full support for law enforcement agencies, and officers at every level of government and situations in which their actions will not be unreasonably fettered by arbitrary judicial decrees.

Additionally, all law enforcement agencies and officers at every level of government will be held to transparent, and accountable measures for all situations, and behaviors where the public safety of District citizens, and society as a whole have been placed in danger or harmed as a result of negligent actions, unlawful, or criminal conduct.

Rhonda Hamilton will insist on fair and equal treatment for all persons before the bar of justice.

All complaints, suggestions and commendations will be recorded in a database to ensure resolution in a timely fashion. We will also improve communications by proactively developing, maintaining, and widely disseminating comprehensive and accurate information about our plans, activities, and accomplishments in a timely manner to all elected officials, public employees, and residents.

The District of Columbia will enhance a sense of safety by working across the business units of Police, Fire and Emergency Management to serve one cogent philosophy of safety and emergency response under one operational command. In addition, the mayor candidate (Rhonda Hamilton) as the face of Public Safety will create outreach opportunities and strategies with each department head to continuously maximize safety, as well as offer timely communication regarding safety concerns to residents.

Decisions in the District of Columbia will not be made unilaterally, except for executive actions (such as lowering flag at half-staff, committee assignments, and the like). However, where possible each elected and public official will operate within a committee and request input from colleagues and residents from such a committee, public or established sounding board, that would help to come to a consensus decision whenever possible.

Open letter to President Donald J. Trump: The Citizens of Washington, DC are appalled with your characterization of our young people as “born to be criminals”.

In your September 2, 2025 media briefing you made reference to the young people of Washington, DC as being “born to be criminals”. How unbecoming of a leader. Our young people are born to mothers and fathers whom many have, in my opinion, haphazardly helped to vote you back into office. Since our young people are the offspring of many Americans who have deemed you qualified and fit to lead, it remains shocking that you would throw these parents under the bus to justify your questionable demonstration of militarized force in our city.

If in fact your deployment and use of the National Guard in the streets of Washington, DC is, as you have said, a necessary action, it would seem that your negligent depictions of our young people have caused you to contradict your supposed sound understanding of the actions you’ve chosen to take with the National Guard here in our city. Branding our young people as “born criminals” helps to influence their internalization of “being born criminals,” leading to a higher likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior due to lowered self-esteem and reduced opportunities for positive development.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will support a society, and a government in which there is an attitude of respect for the law, and for those who seek its enforcement. As an advocate for the citizens, I will always insist that the judiciary be ever mindful of their primary duty, and function of punishing the guilty, acknowledging the unhealthy, while also protecting the innocent.

A Rhonda Hamilton administration will foster full support for law enforcement agencies, and officers at every level of government and situations in which their actions will not be unreasonably fettered by arbitrary judicial decrees.

Additionally, all law enforcement agencies and officers at every level of government will be held to transparent, and accountable measures for all situations, and behaviors where the public safety of District citizens, and society as a whole have been placed in danger or harmed as a result of negligent actions, unlawful, or criminal conduct.

Many District citizens have expressed their deeply rooted concerns regarding the domestic plight of our city.

Having rebounded from years of decay and turmoil, there are areas that have largely been neglected. The local schools, and other institutions stand stripped of their rightful authority; law enforcement agencies, and officers are hampered by arbitrary, and unreasonable restrictions imposed by a beguiled judiciary; crime runs rampant through the city; our climate advocates exist only through unrealistic governmental subsidies; public benefit rolls, and costs soar to astronomical heights; our great American institutions of learning in the District are in chaos; cost of living expenses continue to rise, as do taxes without representation; interest rates are reaching new heights; disciples of dissent, and disorder are rewarded for their disruptive actions at the expense of our law-abiding, God-fearing, hardworking citizenry.

DC residents are alarmed that these conditions have come to exist, and that our city leadership takes no real community corrective action.

Residents deserve a city where accountability is real, where justice protects people rather than punishes poverty, and where agencies operate with the efficiency and clarity that people deserve.

We will modernize government operations, increase transparency across public safety agencies, expand mental-health interventions, and restore the relationship between community and law enforcement.A safe city is one where people feel protected not prosecuted.

Too many residents spend months trying to get a permit, fix a problem, or receive a simple service. The Human Life Standard demands a system that honors people’s time.

The post it quotes, by @MayorBowser

I urge the DC Council to immediately pass emergency legislation to restore the extended juvenile curfew in Washington, DC. The absence of this vital tool is having a profound negative impact on both public safety and sense of safety in the District. We cannot afford further delay.

The post it quotes, by @TheDMVLive

Here’s the video of the brawl inside of the Navy Yard Chipotle (which has since been taken down by the initial user) We are awaiting more details and a copy of the police report from DC Police… #DCCrime

Safety also means democracy. DC residents deserve full self-government, because living under federal occupation without representation is not safety, it’s vulnerability. A safe DC is a DC where public safety is accountable to the people who live here, with clear oversight, transparent rules, and agencies that answer to residents.

People deserve crisis responses that actually help, including mental health professionals, trained de-escalators, youth workers, and violence interrupters. Young people deserve counselors, teachers, and nurses not a school-to-prison pipeline. Families deserve a District that invests in well-being, creates real opportunity, and ensures every student can attend UDC tuition-free so they can build a stable future.

Oye fights for a community-first approach to safety that invests in people before punishment. As a pharmacist and elected neighborhood official, he understands that violence is closely tied to trauma, untreated mental illness, housing instability, and lack of opportunity. As a Councilmember, he will expand violence interruption programs, youth employment, and community-based prevention, and ensure mental health emergencies are handled by trained responders rather than armed officers whenever possible.

Locally, residents also see secretive surveillance, expanded pretrial detention, and policing approaches that deepen militarization while teachers, nurses, mental health workers, and violence interrupters struggle for adequate funding. This imbalance undermines trust, wastes resources, and leaves communities less safe rather than more secure.

DC residents deserve to feel safe in their homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of worship. Every resident, whether Jewish, Muslim, gay, Black, Asian, immigrant, disabled, housed or unhoused, deserves to know the District will take threats and harm seriously and respond with competence and care.

Safety also means democracy. DC residents deserve full self-government, because living under federal occupation without representation is not safety, it’s vulnerability. A safe DC is a DC where public safety is accountable to the people who live here, with clear oversight, transparent rules, and agencies that answer to residents.

Finally, Oye will improve coordination across the education system, learn from best practices in other jurisdictions, and ensure agencies work together to deliver results for students and families. He will strengthen accountability and governance by pushing reforms that restore democratic voice in education, improve oversight, and ensure transparency across agencies. He will hold DCPS accountable for carrying out Council mandates, including support for immigrant educators.

DC continues to rely on public safety strategies that have failed for decades. Residents fund the largest police budget in District history while the root causes of violence, trauma, untreated mental health needs, housing instability, and economic insecurity, go unaddressed. Black youth, immigrants, and unhoused neighbors are overpoliced and criminalized for poverty, fare evasion, or survival. Students face armed officers in schools when what they need is mental health care, academic support, and stable housing.

At the same time, DC’s lack of statehood makes residents less safe. The District is uniquely vulnerable to federal interference and “policing without accountability,” where unelected and unrepresentative federal actors can operate with limited transparency. Residents have seen chaotic federal enforcement, whether through National Guard or ICE deployments, show up without clear coordination, community communication, or democratic oversight. When armed agents operate in DC without accountability to DC voters, it increases fear, instability, and the risk of harm, rather than improving safety.

"Until this year there was a very clear line between MPD and ICE, and that provided comfort to residents. This is undermining the community's trust in MPD." — Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, October 2025

"To say that DC residents are traumatized by the surge of federal agents and stepped-up immigration enforcement is not hyperbole. I personally have heard multiple stories of parents snatched by masked and unidentified agents. I've witnessed incidents, as well. We've heard of kids left on their own after parents have been removed. We've heard of US citizens being detained without warrants and with no apparent reason — and in many of these cases, DC police have participated." — Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, DC Council hearing, October 30, 2025

From the Other Side — What They Are Saying

To Clark Construction: Withdraw immediately from this project and all ICE-related construction contracts in Washington, DC. You chose to take this contract. You can choose to walk away. Companies in Virginia, Texas, and Kansas City have already done it. Southeast DC is asking you directly: stop building.

To the DC Council and Mayor's Office: Defend DC's Sanctuary Values Act, end Metropolitan Police Department cooperation with ICE, and use every available legal and legislative tool to protect District residents from federal immigration enforcement — regardless of federal funding threats.

2004 — Federal Planning Begins at St. Elizabeths GSA initiates the master planning process for DHS headquarters consolidation at the 176-acre St. Elizabeths West Campus in Congress Heights, Southeast DC. At this point, DHS is scattered across more than 40 locations in the National Capital Region. DC residents have no vote in Congress and no meaningful role in the planning process.

The post it quotes, by @ScottGoldstein

“Thanks for working with us” ICE says to MPD. I don’t think I’ve heard @kenyanmcduffie, who wants to be mayor, say a word about the collaboration of MPD with those terrorizing DC communities.

Oye will strengthen language access enforcement, increase funding for immigration legal services, and expand emergency support for immigrant families facing detention or separation. He will use Council oversight to hold agencies accountable, fund legal defense, and ensure immigrant residents can access food, housing, health care, and education without double standards. He will defend universal voting rights for noncitizens and expand civil rights and due process protections so immigrant communities can participate fully and advocate for themselves safely.

Immigrants in DC are being targeted by ICE in schools, workplaces, and homes, often with local police present or complicit, undermining community trust and spreading fear. Federal agents operate with little accountability while families live with the threat of detention, separation, or violence. Language barriers and misinformation keep residents from essential services, and gaps in enforcement allow District systems to be used for surveillance and harm. Without strong oversight and enforcement, sanctuary protections remain fragile, and immigrant families continue to live in fear of the very institutions meant to serve them.

Small business owners deserve a District where businesses are treated as essential to our culture, our economy, and our neighborhoods, not as an afterthought to large developers. Local shops, restaurants, makers, and creative businesses deserve clear and predictable rules, timely communication from government agencies, and systems that work. Immigrant and Black owned businesses deserve equal access to District programs and capital, not processes that favor insiders or those with wealth and connections. Small businesses employ a large share of DC residents, and every corridor from Minnesota…

"For generations, immigrants have been invisible constituents of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser previously rallied in our neighborhoods… and today she betrays us, handing our communities to masked agents. Immigrants are Washingtonians." — Leny Gomez, Colectivo de Familias Migrantes, DC Council hearing, October 30, 2025

"Until this year there was a very clear line between MPD and ICE, and that provided comfort to residents. This is undermining the community's trust in MPD." — Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, October 2025

"To say that DC residents are traumatized by the surge of federal agents and stepped-up immigration enforcement is not hyperbole. I personally have heard multiple stories of parents snatched by masked and unidentified agents. I've witnessed incidents, as well. We've heard of kids left on their own after parents have been removed. We've heard of US citizens being detained without warrants and with no apparent reason — and in many of these cases, DC police have participated." — Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, DC Council hearing, October 30, 2025

At the same time, DC’s lack of statehood makes residents less safe. The District is uniquely vulnerable to federal interference and “policing without accountability,” where unelected and unrepresentative federal actors can operate with limited transparency. Residents have seen chaotic federal enforcement, whether through National Guard or ICE deployments, show up without clear coordination, community communication, or democratic oversight. When armed agents operate in DC without accountability to DC voters, it increases fear, instability, and the risk of harm, rather than improving safety.

Locally, residents also see secretive surveillance, expanded pretrial detention, and policing approaches that deepen militarization while teachers, nurses, mental health workers, and violence interrupters struggle for adequate funding. This imbalance undermines trust, wastes resources, and leaves communities less safe rather than more secure.

DC residents deserve to feel safe in their homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of worship. Every resident, whether Jewish, Muslim, gay, Black, Asian, immigrant, disabled, housed or unhoused, deserves to know the District will take threats and harm seriously and respond with competence and care.

DC continues to rely on public safety strategies that have failed for decades. Residents fund the largest police budget in District history while the root causes of violence, trauma, untreated mental health needs, housing instability, and economic insecurity, go unaddressed. Black youth, immigrants, and unhoused neighbors are overpoliced and criminalized for poverty, fare evasion, or survival. Students face armed officers in schools when what they need is mental health care, academic support, and stable housing.

At the same time, DC’s lack of statehood makes residents less safe. The District is uniquely vulnerable to federal interference and “policing without accountability,” where unelected and unrepresentative federal actors can operate with limited transparency. Residents have seen chaotic federal enforcement, whether through National Guard or ICE deployments, show up without clear coordination, community communication, or democratic oversight. When armed agents operate in DC without accountability to DC voters, it increases fear, instability, and the risk of harm, rather than improving safety.

Locally, residents also see secretive surveillance, expanded pretrial detention, and policing approaches that deepen militarization while teachers, nurses, mental health workers, and violence interrupters struggle for adequate funding. This imbalance undermines trust, wastes resources, and leaves communities less safe rather than more secure.

Educators deserve fair pay, respect, and stable funding. Families deserve affordable, high-quality early childhood and preschool funded as a core part of public education. Students deserve strong neighborhood schools with enough teachers, counselors, nurses, and mental health staff to meet their needs and address long-standing inequities. They also deserve safe, reliable ways to get to school and consistent access to high-quality academic support.

Our youth deserve a holistic approach to development, with access to afterschool and summer programming, enrichment opportunities, and safe spaces through schools, libraries, recreation centers, and community organizations. They deserve investment, not punishment.

Youth and adults also deserve access to high-quality literacy, STEM, and workforce training so everyone can read, write, build numeracy skills, and participate fully in civic and economic life. And every young person deserves to know they can attend UDC tuition-free and start their future without student debt.

The building being constructed in Congress Heights is not an abstract bureaucratic office. It is the command infrastructure for an enforcement machine that is already operating in DC streets — and growing rapidly. As of August 2025, ICE is holding 61,226 people in detention nationwide — an all-time record. Trump has allocated $45 billion for detention and $30 billion more for enforcement, offset by nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons has described the goal of the deportation system as "Amazon Prime, but with human beings."

To feed that system, billions of dollars and thousands of federal agents have been pulled away from white collar crime investigations, child exploitation cases, and violent criminals — and redirected to immigration enforcement. Here in DC, the impact is already visible: over 1,400 people have been arrested on immigration violations since Trump's August 2025 federal surge, ICE has made arrests outside DC schools during arrival and dismissal, and Metropolitan Police Department officers have been documented handing people directly to masked federal agents — in violation of DC's own sanctuary laws. Mayor Bowser, under threat of losing $1 billion in federal funding, has proposed repealing DC's Sanctuary Values Act entirely. The new headquarters at St. Elizabeths will make all of this permanent — placing the nerve center of that operation in the community it is already targeting.

Who Is Building It — And Who Is Responsible

…Biden administration. Since Trump's second term began, 46 people have died in ICE custody as of March 18, 2026. Deaths in 2025 alone — 33 — exceeded the highest annual total in over two decades. Six of those who died had no criminal charges. Thirty-two died from worsening medical conditions while in custody. At least one death ICE reported as a suicide was independently ruled a homicide by a county medical examiner. Billions of dollars and thousands of federal agents have been redirected away from white collar crime, child exploitation, and violent criminal investigations to feed this system.

Fact 9 — What ICE Is Already Doing in DC Over 1,400 people had been arrested on immigration violations in DC by October 2025 — a number that has continued to grow. ICE has made arrests outside DC schools during arrival and dismissal. Metropolitan Police Department officers have been documented handing people directly to masked federal agents in violation of DC's own sanctuary laws. Mayor Bowser, under threat of losing $1 billion in federal funding, removed DC's sanctuary city webpage in March 2025 and proposed repealing DC's Sanctuary Values Act entirely in May 2025. Nationally, 121 pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals are in ICE detention, children are being held with inadequate medical care, and ICE's medical contractor payments lapsed in October 2025 — leaving detainees without reliable healthcare access.

Fact 10 — What Southeast DC Deserves Instead Congress Heights is a historically Black community that has faced decades of federal neglect and underinvestment. The same federal government spending $3.2 billion to build an enforcement compound has not delivered the housing, healthcare, schools, food access, and good jobs that residents have been demanding for generations. Public funds and public land are being used to expand the infrastructure of deportation in a community that never voted for it and has no congressional representation to fight back. Southeast DC deserves better.Sources: GSA…

Oye will fight to lower prescription drug costs, protect Medicare drug negotiation authority, and reform pharmacy benefit managers that inflate prices. Oye will restore Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funding for low income seniors, strengthen property tax relief and utility assistance, expand free tax preparation, benefits navigation, and anti fraud programs, and support immigrant care workers who make aging in place possible. Seniors deserve dignity, stability, independence, and a real voice in shaping DC’s future.

Young people in DC are navigating systems that do not meet their needs. Schools, community safety, housing, and health care decisions are made through adult institutions that often respond to harm with punishment instead of care. Youth face curfews, increased surveillance, and police presence in schools and public spaces while access to afterschool programs, late night recreation, mental health services, and job opportunities remains limited or uneven. Foster youth are frequently moved between placements, disconnected from schools, and pushed toward adulthood without stable housing or transition support. Immigrant youth live with fear as ICE activity near schools and neighborhoods separates families and disrupts learning. Young people face barriers to reproductive and sexual health care and accurate education, while national attacks on youth autonomy continue. Climate decisions made without youth input threaten their health and safety, especially in communities already exposed to pollution and extreme heat.

DC youth deserve stability, dignity, and opportunity. They deserve safe places to gather, learn, and build community, including accessible afterschool and late night spaces. Youth deserve timely access to mental health care without stigma or punishment. Schools should support students as whole people, not rely on policing or surveillance to manage behavior. Youth deserve access to reproductive and sexual health care, including contraception, abortion care, and HIV prevention, regardless of income, immigration status, or age. Foster youth deserve stable housing, continuity in education, trauma…

The post it quotes, by @washingtonpost

The Justice Department is accusing the D.C. Council of showing “callousness” and feigning “ignorance” for asking state governors to withdraw their National Guard troops from the city. https://wapo.st/4zgqxOj

The post it quotes, by @maustermuhle

Dozens of people sounded off against MPD's cooperation with ICE during a D.C. Council on Thursday, but it's unclear what lawmakers will be able to do about it. My rundown on the hearing: https://51st.news/dc-council-hearing-mpd-ice-federal-takeover/

Stopping the federal government’s attempted takeover of MPD

Filed 50+ lawsuits and amicus briefs opposing unlawful federal orders, including deployment of National Guard in DC

Preserved hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for DC

The post it quotes, by @DCAttorneyGen

NEW: We are suing the owners of a Ward 8 building under the Nuisance Act. The property has become a den for drug sales and other criminal activity after the owners repeatedly failed to take basic security measures. The conditions endanger tenants, neighbors, and nearby schools.

The post it quotes, by @jas__golden

“Every day I fear for my life,” one apartment building tenant told me. After an advisory neighborhood commissioner raised alarms, D.C. sued the property owners of 1828 Q Street SE, alleging they did not try to stop ongoing offenses. https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2026/09/28/dc-lawsuit-targets-apartment-building-overrun-with-squatters-drug-activity/?utm_term=jtk-flex-ppa&utm_content=Jgolden

Strengthen National Security and Support Law Enforcement

Champion policies that support law enforcement, national defense, and safety for all citizens, including D.C. residents.

Advocate for tax reforms that reduce the burden on hardworking D.C. residents and businesses, promoting job growth and economic opportunity.

Since the Shadow representative has no real power except being in the Wilson building, my promises might seem underwhelming. They are still better than pretending the city is doing great. To get actually great results, somebody has to worry and ask questions.

Fixing crime takes attention. I'll read the bills proposed by the Council and explain them.

Democratic Party groupthink got us into this mess. I won't play along.

The post it quotes, by @mattvanswol

🚨WHAT THE HELL?!!!!! A group of six "teens" SHOT FIREWORKS INTO A CROWD OF FAMILIES outside of DC at a "family friendly" movie night. They aimed the fireworks directly at CHILDREN!!!! BLANKETS WERE CAIGHT ON FIRE and the crowd, including small children began RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES!!! One brave man stepped in, grabbed a firework before it exploded, and HURLED it away from children. Not a SINGLE ARREST has been made and police have not released any descriptions of the "teens" who did this... WE DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP LIVING THIS WAY!!!!!!

Ivanof 4 DC - Why Groutpthink is Killing DC.

DC Crime is out of control and many people are furious with the Mayor, a few Council members, and the AG.

And they should. These people made bad decisions and DC residents are paying the price.

There is some huge aversion to openly disagreeing and voting differently in DC government when the most stalwart pro-crime politician votes in favor of an act overturning his old acts. Quiet disagreement does not inform the public, it does not get ideas tested enough, and does not result in clear choices for the voters.

Crime is a result of the DC culture of hiding disagreement and the problem will return until people can actually argue and vote without fear of being expelled from the in-crowd of DC politics.

The post it quotes, by @BethanyAllenEbr

I was present on the bus when this terrifying shooting occurred in northwest DC earlier this evening. The lives of the bus passengers were put in even greater danger by what appears to be a local regulation-related issue that I would like to raise with DC's local government:

I have seen enough crime to value safety. I have seen enough poverty to value economic freedom. I have seen enough ignorance to value learning. I have seen enough excuses to value honesty.

In theory, one could be a Democrat and approve of all that. In practice, the disastrous criminal justice reform efforts and riots were spearheaded by people within the Democratic Party who crushed all internal opposition.

I know a lot of people can find things they don't like about the Republican Party (including all Republicans) but politics is about what is possible. It is more possible to protect the vulnerable and to give them a chance at prosperity within the cluster of ideas and expertise of the Republican Party.

The post it quotes, by @USAO_DC

The Court’s sentence was entered pursuant to the Youth Rehabilitation Act, over the government’s objection, which permits a sentence beneath the mandatory minimum term of seven years of incarceration for carjacking.  Edwards had been in custody since August 6, 2025, and had served approximately 108 days in jail.  Edwards will not have to serve the remainder of the suspended sentence if he satisfactorily completes his year of probation. READ MORE: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/teen-serve-less-four-months-jail-carjacking @USAttyPirro @DCPoliceDept

DC politics is so overwhelmingly dominated by the Democratic Party that two disturbing things have occurred.

DC Council and the Mayor have ceased to assess ideas to the extent needed. This isn't just a disagreement over priorities, it is that so much money and so many rules have been moved around with very little thought. Many of the bills that are the basis for recalling Ward 6 councilmember Charles Allen passed 13-0. Money was allocated to "Violence Interrupters" with virtually no evidence of their efficacy. Money is more easily tracked than the human tragedy of rising crime.

A dissenting voice could have slowed some of the unwise decisions enough for the worst ideas to be reconsidered and rejected.

The post it quotes, by @MikeKMorrison

A recent conversation with a boomer about housing broke me and I'm still thinking about it. He and I were discussing zoning, and how he's opposed to changes in his neighborhood (shocking). I gently explained how this impacts families like mine, increasing housing and making it impossible for me to buy a home in the same neighborhood my dad bought in at my age. He had a similar conversation with his employee, talking about salary and his hopes for family growth in Colorado being less possible because of how expensive housing became. This guy then told him "the American dream doesn't exist here for you, you have to go somewhere else." It wasn't a lament. He was bragging that this city, this state was closed to him. It would be locked in amber for boomers to live out their lives and he should go somewhere else to build a life. I was absolutely speechless, but he was proud of it, as if it were some generational wisdom he passed down. If we, as a nation, can't solve the housing crisis, it will fundamentally break the social contract.

As long as people are in the same political party, they have to avoid too much arguing or face expulsion. It is also often the case that national parties adhere to ideas that they rely on the opposition Parties to challenge without any real plan to act on those ideas. When any one party becomes too dominant, the politicians stop hearing the full range of objections to their plans.

Many voices raised concerns but, even with people like Mayor Bowser, no serious effort to block it was made. Since then, there has been massive regret and reform with the Secure DC Act of 2024. Even Charles Allen voted for it.

There is some huge aversion to openly disagreeing and voting differently in DC government when the most stalwart pro-crime politician votes in favor of an act overturning his old acts. Quiet disagreement does not inform the public, it does not get ideas tested enough, and does not result in clear choices for the voters.

The post it quotes, by @d_foubert

The French 🇫🇷 have learned that they can get almost anything if they behave like assholes. That lesson is deeply embedded in French political culture. If you lose an argument, block a road. If negotiations fail, stop the trains. If the government refuses to retreat, occupy a university, burn bins, smash shopfronts, surround a ministry, shut down a refinery. The escalation itself becomes a political language. Over time, this creates a perverse incentive. The most disruptive group gets attention. The group willing to impose the highest cost on everyone else gets concessions. Moderation becomes strategically stupid. Why negotiate quietly when history keeps teaching you that the state only listens after traffic stops, schools close and something catches fire? So every conflict starts one step higher than the previous one. A strike becomes a blockade. A blockade becomes sabotage. A demonstration becomes a riot. Political violence is no longer exceptional; it becomes part of the bargaining repertoire. And then everyone wonders why the country is ungovernable. The answer is simple: if generations are taught that public order is merely a suggestion and that disruption is the fastest route to power, eventually the entire political system starts rewarding the loudest, angriest and most destructive people in the room.

The post it quotes, by @7NewsDC

New surveillance video shows people scrambling for cover as fireworks are launched into a crowd of people trying to enjoy a family movie night in Northeast D.C. READ MORE: https://bit.ly/4uV0wAL

The post it quotes, by @glukianoff

I live right across from where the riots have been taking place and it's definitely getting more intense again, but it is not at all new. This spring I was just doing a quick run out to CVS to buy something at 6, and a mob of kids were chasing this one other kid and attacking him. He was trying to fight back, then stumbled in the way of a car, got hit by a car (fortunately at relatively low speed, but nonetheless not something I would have just gotten up from). Got up, and the kids kept on hitting him. At 6 p.m. on a Sunday. They were really lucky that kid was not killed.

The post it quotes, by @nbcwashington

A group of D.C. residents is asking the District’s youth curfew be allowed to expire, saying it’s ineffective and that it criminalizes Black youth. http://nbc4dc.com/HLyb9uX

The post it quotes, by @charlesallen

The President taking over local control of MPD & putting the US military onto the streets of DC under the guise of public safety is wrong. It’s an extreme, outrageous, and dangerous move for our city and the safety of all our residents. (1/5)

The post it quotes, by @RepJayapal

Trump’s authoritarian DC takeover has cost more than $15 MILLION. How could we better spend that taxpayer money? - 1,558 public housing units - 1,172 Head Start slots - VA medical care for 882 veterans - Health care for 5,219 low-income children What an absolute disgrace.

The post it quotes, by @CMZParker5

🧵 I am writing to provide a formal update following the horrific incident that occurred last night in Eckington’s Alethia Tanner Park. Many Ward 5 neighbors were enjoying a beautiful summer evening and outdoor movie when several individuals set off fireworks into the crowd, causing injury, panic, and the cancellation of the evening’s CiNoMatic Series event.

The post it quotes, by @EJGoulet

DC businesses are in an impossible lose-lose situation. They either let thieves shoplift them into bankruptcy or they lock up their products. Unfortunately, this makes it less convenient for law-abiding citizens to quickly buy things, & thus more likely they'll buy online. (1/3)

The post it quotes, by @repoyedc

Young people in DC need support, not incarceration. For the past 12 years, I’ve supported thousands of kids with science experiments to get them interested in become pharmacists like me. Right now, kids are acting out and fighting at public spaces like the navy yard. Rather than finding ways to engage youth, The DC Council is looking to extend a juvenile curfew. I oppose extending the curfew because it’s not evidence based, it’s antagonizing and a waste in resources. Kids need programs, not over policing.

The post it quotes, by @JaneMayerNYer

This is so tragic, so unnecessary, these poor guardsmen should never have been deployed. I live in DC and watched as they had virtually nothing to do but pick up trash. It was for political show and at what a cost.

The post it quotes, by @PenguinSix

Police responded to a call for the sound of gunshots at the home of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett last night, but quickly realized it was a swatting call and cleared after meeting with her security detail. This is partial police audio, redacted pursuant to media reporting guidelines on coverage of swatting incidents.

The post it quotes, by @EmmaUber7

Here is Bowser’s full letter to the council chairman explaining her refusal to sign off on the budget. Says they chose to “simply kick the can down the road.”

The post it quotes, by @Scott_Wiener

State law most certainly does apply to federal agents. You’re committing malpractice by repeatedly advising federal agents to ignore state law. They ignore state law at their legal peril.

The post it quotes, by @DCAttorneyGen

Today, we returned to court to continue our fight to end the unlawful and indefinite deployment of the National Guard to DC. This unprecedented federal overreach is an affront to Home Rule and undermines the core principles of American democracy. Armed soldiers should not be policing American citizens on American soil. And no city in America should be subject to involuntary military occupation. We are not made safer by untrained, out-of-state military forces — who do not know our communities and are not accountable to DC residents — policing our streets with rifles, handcuffs, and armored vehicles. The additional tasks National Guardsmen are being assigned in DC — picking up trash, raking leaves, and spreading mulch — are not a good use of the National Guard's expertise or taxpayer dollars. Since we filed our lawsuit, our warning that the same strategy would be replicated in other cities has proven true. If this is allowed to continue, we risk setting a dangerous precedent that the same Armed Forces sworn to defend our freedoms can be deployed to suppress our freedoms anywhere in America. It is time to let the National Guard go home to their regular lives, families, and children — instead of spending another year policing our nation’s capital as a military force.

The post it quotes, by @avitale

@hecubian_devil What have you actually read about the political program for police abolition? My guess...nothing. happy to provide some references. But sure, keep propping up the most fascist leaning institutions in our society.

The post it quotes, by @CrimeWatchMpls

SE Minneapolis - Engine 19 is being delayed by protesters on University Ave SE while trying to get to a medical patient with chest pain on Malcolm Ave SE. Protesters/rioters are on site actively vandalizing and breaking windows at a hotel. 21:55

The post it quotes, by @MayorBowser

It has been the honor of a lifetime to be your mayor. My full letter to the community:

The post it quotes, by @ACLU_DC

More police does not equal more safety. This is a waste of taxpayer money that could be better spent investing in solutions that address the root causes of public safety issues and stop crime before it happens. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/home-rule/fbi-agents-patrol-dc-streets/65-345e332d-3665-49ba-915a-1a79e270aa77

The post it quotes, by @ScottGoldstein

People are going to say “yeah, but the behavior!” Look- teens act out. If it’s violent, they can be held accountable. But if you can’t see that behavior is also a REACTION to control, remember: “the child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”

The post it quotes, by @ScottGoldstein

Curfews are absolutely stupid policy but I think they racism running rampant in this conversation will be exposed if we make kids who live in Chevy Chase or Friendship Heights abide by an 8 pm curfew.

The post it quotes, by @SpencerSays

Northwest DC CVS puts candy behind lock and key in an effort to reduce theft https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/northwest-dc-cvs-puts-candy-behind-lock-and-key-effort-reduce-theft/65-54421f3e-a84c-4888-ae56-794f890b88b2

The post it quotes, by @DefiantLs

Leftist author demands for police to not use body cams, “They have been an essential propaganda tool."