Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) said one of his staffers was attacked at gunpoint this past weekend by a group of men while the congressional member was in a Washington neighborhood with a group of friends.
“Early this morning, three men attempted to rob one of my staffers and a friend at gunpoint in Navy Yard,” the congressman said in a June 9 post via the social media platform X.
Mr. Collins said one of the attackers stole a watch, and the other assailant “took a fist to the face.”
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said in a statement on June 10 that the incident happened at about 3:17 a.m. and involved two armed attackers and four victims.
“Four victims were walking in the 800 block of New Jersey Avenue, Southeast, when two suspects got out of a car and pointed firearms at them,” police said. “The suspects took property from the victims and fled the scene.”
Authorities said all four victims were uninjured. The agency did not identify any of the victims.
On social media, the police department shared two surveillance images of a black car allegedly used by the suspects in the attack.
Police also requested that anyone who has seen the vehicle pictured below or has any information concerning the incident contact them.
“The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime committed in the District of Columbia,” the MPD stated.
Mr. Collins, meanwhile, blamed the event on the District’s so-called soft-on-crime policies and a weakened criminal justice system.
“Our nation’s capital has become a warzone because of pro-criminal policies peddled by D.C.’s government,” he claimed.
DC Crime Decreases
The armed robbery happened as the nation’s capital experienced an overall 16 percent decrease in crime this year from 2023, according to data published by the MPD.
As of June 10, there has been a 24 percent decrease in homicides, a 29 percent reduction in robberies, a 31 percent drop in motor vehicle theft, and a 16 percent reduction in thefts from autos.
According to the department’s crime data, violent crime has dropped by 27 percent.
Last year saw a 26 percent spike in crime, including a 39 percent increase in violent crime, from the previous year.
In 2023, the MPD reported a 35 percent jump in homicides, a 67 percent increase in robberies, an 82 percent rise in motor vehicle thefts, a 4 percent increase in burglaries, and a 23 percent hike in non-auto thefts.