Tipsheet

'Hands Off DC': Local Reporter Upset GOP Voted Against Capital's Soft-on-Crime Bill

At least one local reporter in Washington, D.C. is not happy with the House of Representatives, led by the new Republican majority, voting against the city council's soft-on-crime bill. While a majority of Democrats voted in support of the bill, 31 Democrats voted with Republicans.

Adam Longo, who is an anchor and reporter for WUSA9, quote tweeted Rep. Byron Donalds' (R-FL) tweet about the vote and stated, "If you’re not a member of the DC Council, you should NOT be involved in DC’s local affairs. That’s just as simple. Hands off DC."

"Your bias is showing again. Activism is the new standard for 'journalism,' [and] it’s sad, especially at the local level.If you [and] your colleagues held our local officials accountable for their blatant disregard for crime and the victims of it, this involvement wouldn’t be needed," Harris Fields, who is Donalds' senior advisor for communication, replied to Longo.

"You’re asking for me to be biased in a different way while simultaneously condemning my obvious and unapologetic bias towards political self-determination. As for the merits of the Revised Criminal Code Act, it’s pitifully obvious that many members didn’t even read the bill," said Longo.

Longo then took offense to being criticized by Fields over his reporting since Fields is not a journalist.

In a commentary piece during a broadcast on Thursday, Longo invoked the race card about the House vote.

"Well somebody's got to say, colonialism is alive and well and thriving right here in the District of Columbia. Right in the sacred beating heart of America's democratic experiment. And now in 2023, a majority white, male political body of 435 people has subjected its own will on to a group of 713,000 District residents, the majority of whom are black and Latino," Longo said. "Self-governance is the hallmark of our political system but that apparently only applies if you got the right skin color and if you're registered with the right political party."