(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) In a House Oversight and Government Accountability Committee hearing devoted specifically to the governing of our nation’s capitol, Republican Rep. Russell Fry of South Carolina confronted a city councilman on the city’s rising crime rates.
Fry listed off some alarming statistics to Councilman Charles Allen, who sat in apparent shock and awe of the horrifying numbers and rendered incapable of defending his actions.
“Let’s talk about homicides in D.C.,” Fry said to the councilman. “They’re up 40% over last year. On March 6, the D.C. police chief, Robert Contee, was asked what D.C. can do differently to keep homicides down. He replied, ‘keep violent people in jail.’ Well, that sounds like a pretty good idea to me.”
2022 set a record in homicides for the city with 203 citizens killed; 2023 is set to be another record-breaking year.
Fry also stated that the city’s average for daily carjackings is one per day. The Metropolitan Police Department also started distributing wheel locks to locals who own Kia or Hyundai owners as a prevention measure for carjackings.
Fry also showed a video of one of his staffer’s text alerts for the month of March, which showed several notifications of stabbings, carjackings and other crimes in the Capitol Hill area.
Fry also called out the councilman for his lack of support for the MPD, which Allen is working very difficult to minimize.
“According to [Police] Chief [Robert] Contee, he said, ‘Right now the average homicide suspect has been arrested eleven times prior to committing a homicide,’” Fry said. Do you think the men and women who serve the Metropolitan Police Department feel supported by D.C. Council to keep D.C. safe and to stay safe themselves?”
Allen, along with D.C. City Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, voted to reduce criminal penalties within the city. President Joe Biden signed the bill, but only after it won the support of several prominent Democrats.
Fry concluded by frankly stating that Washington D.C. is highly unsuited for statehood because it is so poorly run.
“If D.C. were a state, it would have far and away the highest per capita murder rate of any other state,” Fry noted. “In 2014-2020, D.C. ranked the highest with a homicide rate of 19.84 per 100,000 people. D.C. wants to be a state; they can’t even be a city.”
