Virginia AG blasts DC leaders over ‘crime explosion’ after fatal Ivy City stabbing
Heather Hunter
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter to Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. City Council accusing them of allowing for a “crime explosion” in the district.
The Republican attorney general said in his letter that the district’s high rates of criminal activity has “become Virginia’s crime problem.”
BIDEN PROSECUTOR GOES SOFT ON DC CRIME
“Washington, D.C., is dealing with a crime explosion. Actions speak louder than words — and the only actionable items taken by Washington D.C. leadership have been ways to lessen criminal penalties, further fostering an environment for criminal activity,” the letter reads. “There is no deterrent for illegal behavior in Washington, D.C., as these repeat offenders know they will either not be charged or let back on the streets in no time.”
Last week, Christy Bautista, a 31-year-old Virginia woman, was killed after a man stabbed her more than 20 times in a D.C. hotel room after she attended a concert in the city. Cameras captured the struggle and a witness saw her screaming for help before being pulled back into the hotel room. D.C. police officers arrived 10 minutes later and Bautista was found dead on the hotel room floor.
“She did what a lot of Virginians do,” Miyares said on Friday. “They go into the District to enjoy the best of the arts and the theater. She was there to just see a concert. She was there not even an hour and she was murdered by a total stranger. And to find out that this individual had already been arrested for armed robbery and he got out on bond in which another murder took place. It was just heartbreaking to see what had happened.”
The attorney general slammed D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson’s testimony last week before Congress dismissing that the city was unsafe to live in.
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“There’s been a crime surge in Washington, D.C. It’s frustrating for me to see elected leaders in Washington, D.C. testify in Congress just recently as this past month, in which they said there’s no crime problem and by every objective measure, crime has gone up,” Miyares wrote.
“I refuse to stand by quietly as you continue to deny, reject, and refuse to address your very prevalent crime spike that is impacting D.C. residents and its visitors and commuters. Your unwillingness to enforce your laws and hold violent offenders responsible puts your residents and mine at risk,” he told D.C. officials in his letter.