Reports started to swirl last evening that a member of Congress had been carjacked at gunpoint in the DC neighborhood of Navy Yard last evening. Shortly thereafter, the identity of the victim was confirmed: Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, one of the last remaining moderates in Hakeem Jeffries' conference. Cuellar -- who was been outspokenly critical of the Biden administration over the border crisis and who has broken from his colleagues by supporting mainstream abortion limitations -- seems to have been randomly attacked by criminals. According to his office, he was unharmed. Politico had the scoop:
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) was carjacked in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood on Monday evening, according to three people familiar with the situation. The armed assault of Cuellar, first reported by POLITICO, came amid concerns about a spike in carjackings in the nation’s capital...The Metropolitan Police Department and the Capitol Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though Cuellar's office confirmed the account and said he was not harmed. The city’s alert system notified residents of an investigation into a carjacking of a Honda SUV with Texas license plates.
Cuellar becomes the second Congressional Democrat to have been criminally assaulted in our nation's capital this year. Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was attacked inside an elevator in her apartment building back in early February. An aide to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was also brutally stabbed the following month. Despite a dramatic spike in carjackings over the last few years, the DC City Council astoundingly chose to pass soft-on-crime legislation that actually reduced criminal penalties for carjacking. House Republicans voted to overturn this insanity, which even the mayor and the Washington Post editorial board had opposed as reckless.
Astonishingly, the large majority of House Democrats voted to side with the council's dangerous lunacy. Cuellar was one of the Democrats who joined the GOP on this vote. Roughly a month later, after the White House signaled President Biden's political reversal, the Democrat-held Senate passed the House bill -- hanging the 173 House Democrats who voted to back DC 'home rule' out to dry. This was a dramatic rebuke of the city council, undeniably demonstrating the need for adult supervision. Unfazed, the council's leader subsequently testified before Congress that there was "no crime crisis" in Washington, DC. For reference, violent crime is up 39 percent in the nation's capital in 2023, a drastic increase over last year, which was quite violent and dangerous unto itself. Murder is up 37 percent. Carjackings continue to skyrocket:
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Comes amid a surge in violent crime in DC. Just looking at carjackings alone:
— Alicia Smith (@Alicia_Smith19) October 3, 2023
2018: 140 carjackings
2022: 485 carjackings
2023: 651 carjackings (thus far)
It’s completely out of control. https://t.co/lZ9TEupTtS
I'll leave you with just a few examples of endless crime incidents around America's capital city and the surrounding area within the past day alone. Review this Twitter feed and just keep scrolling:
update: A second gunshot patient has been located at the "other" shooting scene at 1200 blk Delaware Ave SW DC. He appears to be a teen shot in the leg.
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) October 3, 2023
All 3 gunshot patients may all be connected to the same incident from The Point. Police trying to piece it together. https://t.co/rRaUN7APAp
METROBUS STRUCK BY GUNFIRE/ TRAFFIC ALERT --- Saint Barnabas Rd near Virginia Lane. Around 6 p.m., the bus driver and passengers heard some "pops" but did not realize that bus #8030 (AD38 B12) had been hit several times by gunfire. Police are closing the roadway now to search for… pic.twitter.com/7LBFwEw2ac
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) October 3, 2023
YET ANOTHER SHOOTING INVOLVING A METROBUS --- Old Landover Rd at Pennsy Dr in Landover. Three guys got onto Metrobus #7022 (LL13) where one of them got shot by one of the other two who fled. #WMATA pic.twitter.com/yb1k6zpUYn
— Alan Henney (@alanhenney) October 3, 2023
UPDATE:
In DC, the average murder suspect has 11 prior arrests: police
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) October 3, 2023
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