Tipsheet

Rand Paul Makes Chilling But True Point on Crime in D.C.

Crime is rampant in Washington, D.C., to the point where congressional staffers are being attacked in broad daylight. As Matt covered, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who himself has been the victim of violent assaults, was stabbed. He survived but was taken to the hospital in "a life-threatening condition," though is expected to make a full recovery. The office is asking "for privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery," but Paul has still made brief remarks, and they're quite telling when it comes to warning about what our nation's capital has become. 

"It makes me think we're in the third world," he said, adding "I wonder whether Washington, DC should be listed on dangerous places to travel," mentioning such is the case when it comes to certain foreign countries designated by the State Department as dangerous places to travel to. 

Paul's tweet highlighted the dangers of America's cities, as he also lamented "Many of our major cities are really gone." The senator was not only attacked at his home in Kentucky in 2017, but was harassed by crowds, along with his wife, Kelley Paul, upon leaving the 2020 Republican National Convention in August of that year. He also addressed the dangers of recidivism, as the suspect in this violent stabbing, Glynn Neal, had just been released from prison on Friday, with the stabbing occurring on Saturday.

Not only is crime rampant in D.C., but the city council somehow thought it made sense to put forth a soft-on-crime policy that would eliminate most mandatory minimum sentences, allows for jury trials in almost all misdemeanors, and has lesser penalties for burglary, robbery, carjacking, sexual assault, and illegally carrying a gun.

While Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) vetoed that crime bill, the council overrode her with a vote of 12-1 in January. Thankfully, since Congress has jurisdiction over D.C., there were still options. Republicans and Democrats came together to nix it, after the White House alerted that the president wouldn't veto it if it came before him, which it did, becoming law earlier this month. 

Not only did the council put forth such a crime bill, they then tried to get away with pulling it back. Congress still overturned it earlier this month though, with a vote of 250-173 in the House and 81-14 in the Senate. While before the House Oversight Committee for a Wednesday hearing, Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia Phil Mendelson claimed he wasn't looking to cover up anything. 


Even the mainstream media is concerned with crime in D.C., as Spencer highlighted earlier on Wednesday, pointing to a piece from The Washington Post that noted how "startling" it is that more crimes aren't prosecuted in the district.

While many of them voted to overturn the soft-on-crime bill, we can't expect too much from Democrats. Many of them still want to grant D.C. statehood, which is absurd on constitutional grounds—though that hasn't stopped them from trying when they controlled the House—but even more so in the light of crime that is out of control. 

On a more hopeful note, Fox News' Chad Pergram also tweeted a message from the parents of Phillip Todd, the staffer in question: