Democrat Has Three Words After Being Carjacked at Gunpoint
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas had three words of advice after being carjacked at gunpoint Monday night in an upscale neighborhood near Capital Hill: Support law enforcement.
Some would argue the lawmaker’s record in doing so is mixed.
In 2021, Cuellar issued a news release to brag about voting for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Had the bill become law, it would have greatly hampered police officers’ ability to do their jobs. Among other measures, it would have restricted the situations when police can respond with deadly force and greatly expanded the opportunity of civilians to sue individual officers, rather than local governments, when alleging wrongdoing.
However, Cuellar voted with Republicans in February to override the District of Columbia’s revised criminal code passed by the city council that would have lessened the penalties for carjackings and other violent crimes.
Cuellar recounted to reporters Tuesday what happened to him the previous night around 9:30 p.m. in front of his DC building, less than a mile from the Capitol.
“Three guys came out of nowhere, and they pointed guns at me,” the Texas Democrat said.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) briefly recounted his experience being carjacked in Washington, DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood. He said there were three assailants with guns who stole his car, and he said the incident was proof there should be better support for law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/ZXLYpyAh3Z
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 3, 2023
Cueller explained that, although he has a black belt in karate, he calculated that it was not the situation to try to resist.
“I looked at one with a gun and another with a gun … one behind me. So they said they wanted my car and I said, ‘sure,'” the congressman said.
“You got to keep calm under those situations, and then they took off.”
He thanked the Capitol Police and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department for helping him recover all the gunmen stole.
“We tracked the car, the phone, the car, everything and within, I don’t know, less than two hours, I got everything back,” he said.
Asked if he felt like he was targeted because he is a member of Congress, Cuellar thought not.
The gunmen looked young to him and not the type that likely followed politics.
Asked his takeaway from the incident, Cuellar responded, “You got to support law enforcement. And I’ve been doing that for a long time. [I’ve got] three brothers that are peace officers.”
In a post published on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter, GOP Sen. Mike Lee wrote that the whole incident showed there’s something “terribly wrong” in the District of Colombia.
“My friend, @RepCuellar (D. TX), became the victim of a crime tonight in what’s considered a nice part of D.C. D.C. is dangerous,” Lee wrote.
“Something’s gone terribly wrong here—for far too long. Congress has the sole power to make D.C.’s laws, and must intervene.”
My friend, @RepCuellar (D. TX), became the victim of a crime tonight in what’s considered a nice part of D.C.
D.C. is dangerous. Something’s gone terribly wrong here—for far too long.
Congress has the sole power to make D.C.’s laws, and must intervene.https://t.co/MlDwfkqLKm
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) October 3, 2023
Similar to Cuellar, Democrat Rep. Angie Craig of Minnesota was assaulted in her apartment building.
Craig was in an elevator in February when she was accosted by a man police identified as 26-year-old Kendrid Hamlin, who has a long rap sheet. Hamlin pleaded guilty in June to assaulting a member of Congress and assaulting law enforcement officers, CBS News reported.
The Washington Post reported last week that violent crime overall is up 39 percent, and the district reached 200 homicides Sept. 26, which is the earliest date in a year it’s reached that number since 1997.
Homicides are up 28 percent from the same period last year and carjackings are up 106 percent, according to the Post.
“Last month, D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) introduced legislation that would expand the definition of carjacking to make it easier for police and prosecutors to charge suspects,” the news outlet reported.
“Too many neighbors across the District have been traumatized and victimized by these crimes,” Pinto said in a statement Tuesday, according to the Post.
Just as New York City Mayor Eric Adams is experiencing a belated epiphany about the costs of illegal immigration as border-crossing migrants flood the city, D.C. officials may be coming to the same realization regarding soft-on-crime policies.
Cuellar became the latest victim of D.C.’s crime wave, but hopefully, the incident will help precipitate change.
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