Outrage over DC Mayor Bowser ‘gaslighting’ residents by claiming crime has declined despite recent increases in carjackings, violent crimes and SWAT raids on apartment buildings steps from the US Capitol
Mayor Muriel Bowser boasted that crime in Washington, D.C., is down compared to last year, even as a recent string of violence has driven residents to flee to the suburbs of Virginia and Maryland.
Despite an overall decline of 13 percent this year from January 1 through April 2 compared to the same period last year, the District of Columbia is still experiencing an increase in crime compared to the norm in the years leading up to 2023.
It comes after 2023 was recorded as the deadliest year in more than two decades. DC also had the largest spike in violent crime of any other major U.S. city.
Although data shows a decline between the specific time period last year and this year, residents share the general feeling that crime is increasing and they feel increasingly less safe in DC neighborhoods.
From January 1 to April 2 last year to this year, there was a 13% drop in overall crime – following a record year of crime in 2023 in Washington, DC
Mayor Muriel Bowser (right) faces backlash for touting the drop in crime between the second quarter of 2023 and 2024, but residents say they feel safer and many are fleeing to the suburbs of Virginia and Maryland to escape the violence and escape the threats.
As is clear, a person was robbed at gunpoint Wednesday just steps from the Hart Senate Office Building by two individuals, at least one of whom was armed with a handgun.
Still, Bowser insists crime is on the decline, claiming it’s down 30 percent from last year in a Monday interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box.
“We’ve done the things that we know will reset our public safety ecosystem,” she said.
There was outrage over her claims of a decline in crime.
“Bowser going on CNBC this morning and saying crime in DC is going down was next level gaslighting,” an X user wrote on Monday.
Another wrote: ‘This is demonstrably false.’
Although comparisons between January 1 and April 2 show that there was a dip between 2023 and 2024, there is still an upward trend compared to previous years.
It appears that 2023 was an outlier for rising crime in the nation’s capital and it would be difficult to be on track to beat last year’s numbers. Between 2022 and 2023, violent crime increased by 39 percent.
Although some statistics are lower than in 2023, there is still an overall upward trend compared to previous years. One of the biggest crime statistics in DC is the result of carjackings, which reached an all-time high in 2023 but are down 31% so far this year
Many residents told DailyMail.com they want to leave D.C. or plan to move because of the increase in crime. Pictured: Law enforcement officers converge on a manhunt for a suspect in connection with a shooting last year who encountered an apartment complex in Navy Yard, a neighborhood about half a mile from the U.S. Capitol
Overall violent crime is down, but the MPD notes that the 2024 statistics are “preliminary” and may change throughout the year as more information becomes available
In the second quarter of 2021, there were 836 cases of violent crime over the three-month period, rising to 1,032 reported cases in 2022, according to Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) data reviewed by DailyMail.com.
In the same period in 2023, the number of violent crimes rose to 1,050.
The reported data for January through April 2, 2024 shows that 838 violent crimes occurred. But the MPD database notes that “reports may change due to subsequent determinations” and that year-to-date results are “preliminary in nature.”
After a deal for Washington’s NHL and NBA teams — the Capitals and Wizards, respectively — fell through, Bowser celebrated the retention of the District’s professional sports teams on CNBC, where she also defended rising crime statistics.
“Crime is down across all categories in Washington DC,” she noted, clearly referring to the second quarter of the fiscal year in 2023 compared to the same period in 2024.
Capitals and Wizards majority owner Ted Leionsis, 67, said his decision to stay in the district was in no way influenced by crime.
In certain areas there have been noticeable declines over the years, such as in the number of attacks with a dangerous weapon
But that didn’t stop many from speculating that the potential for a move to Virginia had to do with a huge increase in crime in Chinatown, as well as increasing noise and a struggle with vacant storefronts and homelessness.
Hours after it was announced that the teams would not cross the river, Bowser announced that she had signed a deal with Leonsis to keep the teams in DC through 2050.
Crime got so bad in Washington, DC, that the federal Department of Justice sent resources to the city to help.
While not directly correlated by MPD, the department noted to DailyMail.com that there was a decrease in crime in the second quarter compared to last year and this year and that assistance was received from the DOJ.
Carjackings are the highest rising crime statistic in DC, reaching an all-time high in this crime category in 2023 for the sixth year in a row.
A good example of citizen response to crime is the recent exodus from Navy Yard, an expensive neighborhood just half a mile from the U.S. Capitol that was once considered the most convenient and desirable place for members of Congress and their staff to live.
At least two lawmakers have witnessed crime firsthand in DC
Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) was attacked in the elevator of her apartment building in February 2023.
The congressman was punched and grabbed by the neck by a man believed to be homeless. She suffered bruises but was able to throw her hot coffee at the attacker and fend him off.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, who lives in Navy Yard, was the victim of an armed carjacking outside his home in the Capitol Hill Tower Apartments in Navy Yard in October. He was not injured, but the three armed criminals took his car and his sushi dinner.
An employee of Senator Rand Paul’s office was stabbed last year on H St. NE in Washington, DC, in what was reportedly a random attack.
“Honestly, I think I left the same week Congressman Cuellar was carjacked. And I just said, you know, that’s the last straw,” Carone said.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) was the victim of an armed carjacking outside his Navy Yard apartment building Capitol Hill Tower in October 2023 — just a half mile from the U.S. Capitol where he works
Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) expressed to DailyMail.com her growing concerns about crime in her DC district and recently moved from the city to Virginia.
Navy Yard buildings boast some of the fanciest amenities and highest rents in the country – with a one-bedroom apartment averaging about $2,500 per month. But the region is also in the news almost every day with a new shooting, stabbing, carjacking or other violent crime.
The dangers have become so great that some congressional staffers would rather take an Uber to work than risk the half-mile trip to their office.
“I left the Navy Yard and left DC because of the rapid and drastic increase in crime,” Senior Legislative Assistant Rafaello Carone told DailyMail.com. “I had to (leave) because of safety and affordability.”
“The whole point of living in DC. and being close to the Capitol buildings makes it easy to get to work. And now you’re forced to use Uber and take other forms of transportation just to get to work.”
Among the lawmakers DailyMail.com can confirm have taken up residence in Navy Yard in recent years are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Henry Cuellar (D-Texas ), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Mark Takano (D-California).