At least three congressional staffers were robbed at gunpoint during a “robbery spree” over the weekend in Washington, DC, continuing a trend of crime in the nation’s capital in which the victims are members of Congress or their staff.
According to FOX5DC, at least three congressional staffers in two separate incidents were victims of a robbery spree in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, located near the Capitol.
The staffers work for Reps. Dan Bishop (R-NC) and Mike Collins (R-GA), according to the report. The two incidents occurred within a few blocks of each other early Monday morning, and police believe it was the same group of suspects that perpetrated both crimes.
In the first incident, involving at least two staffers, suspects in a black sedan with tinted windows pulled up alongside four victims walking on a sidewalk. Three suspects exited the sedan, one armed with a handgun, and demanded a staffer’s watch. Another victim verbally confronted the suspects, refused to hand anything over, and was threatened with being shot. The staffer, Octavian Miller, who works for Collins, told Fox News that his friend punched one of the suspects.
Wow, my good friend & former @MattGaetz staffer @MillerOctavian was robbed at gunpoint this past weekend in Washington, D.C. Thank God for protecting him and his friends.
Make no mistake – DC Mayor Bowser and the Biden administration are to blame for allowing the Nation’s… pic.twitter.com/jHj88Fq4vm
— Joel Valdez (@realJoelValdez) June 12, 2024
Bishop said, according to the FOX5DC report, “I’m thankful that he is safe and proud of him for successfully fending off the attackers.”
“It’s an utter indictment of our capital city that this type of violent crime is so commonplace. Leftist pro-crime policies in Washington embolden criminals and put everyone who lives, works, and visits here in danger,” he added.
Collins posted on X:
Time and time again D.C.’s leadership proves they are incapable of governing and protecting its citizens. Violent crime in this city is a problem that affects everyone. It’s unthinkable that drive-by robberies are a normal part of living just a few blocks from the Capitol.
The other incident, involving four men, including another congressional staffer and an intern, occurred later that morning. They were also held at gunpoint, according to the report. The victims said two suspects emerged from a black car, brandished guns, patted down the victims, and stole items — including iPhones, a gold necklace, and a gold-colored watch — according to the report. The thieves then fled in the vehicle.
Miller, also a former staffer of Rep. Matt Garetz (R-FL), told Fox News in an interview:
I thank God that nothing else bad happened to us. But you hear about these stories, and it is quite unfortunate that we live in a city where it feels like you have to fend for yourself. So, I’m just thankful that God protected the two of us during this situation.
Violent crime in Washington, DC, surged 39 percent in 2023 from 2022, according to Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) statistics. In 2023, D.C. reported 274 homicides, the highest annual number of homicides since 1997.
So far, there have been 1,520 violent crimes reported in D.C. in 2024, according to MPD statistics, including 80 homicides, 84 instances of sex abuse, 471 assaults with a deadly weapon, and 885 robberies, as of June 12, 2024.
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Cuban Embassy in US via StoryfulIn 2023, there were four incidents involving three staffers and one member of Congress being robbed or attacked.
In October 2023, a staffer for Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) was robbed at gunpoint in D.C. while walking down the street at 8:30 p.m. A man approached her, put a gun in her face, and said, “Give me your purse and keys,” WUSA 9 reported at the time. The staffer handed over her keys and other belongings, and the robber got into her car and drove off.
A month before that incident, House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) warned staffers not to wear jewelry or become distracted on cell phones while walking around D.C.
In March 2023, a staffer for Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) was brutally stabbed on a Saturday early evening near the Capitol. The suspect, 42-year-old black district resident Glynn Neal, told law enforcement he launched the attack because “voices” in his head told him to do it, according to NBC4 Washington, as previously reported by Breitbart News. The staffer suffered life-threatening wounds.
The attack occurred on the same street where Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) was accosted in her apartment building in February 2023.
Collins told Fox News that crime in D.C. “is very much out of control,” calling it a “warzone.”
“They have polled, constantly, the citizens that live here in D.C., and no one feels safe. And this is a gun-free zone, and you just saw where two people got out with guns,” he said.
“What needs to happen is we have got to get back to a nation of law and order. We have gotten so far from that. We don’t prosecute people, and, in the city of D.C., we don’t even pursue them,” he said:
It’s time to take a hard look at home rule here and put Congress back in control of this city. This is the nation’s capitol where people come to visit, and then, when they don’t feel safe, our staff doesn’t feel safe. It’s obvious that we have got a lack of…not just disrespect but just a disdain for the law.
Collins urged voters to put Republicans back in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House.
“We’ll make sure that these blue cities [and] these blue states understand that when you break the law, you’re gonna pay for what you did,” he said.
“My message to [the] leadership in D.C. is, you know, please take care of your constituents,” Miller said. “We should…be able to walk around freely, not…have to worry about our lives…just to be able to walk, regardless of what time of day it is, to be able to walk and just feel safe in our nation’s capital.”
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