A National Guard member from Georgia is in jail facing two felony charges after being accused of pointing his loaded weapon at a colleague while patrolling Washington, D.C.
Zion Mitchell, 21, was arrested last week after allegedly getting into an argument over military grooming regulations with a female fellow service member. He was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and is being held in jail with no bond.
On Aug. 25, the pair were sitting inside their service van on H Street near Popeyes when they reportedly began bickering over whether their hair followed Army regulations. Mitchell told police he pointed a pistol at her in a playful argument, but said that the gun was pointed at a 45-degree angle down and not at her head.
The female colleague told police that after she told Mitchell to “shut the f*** up,” she heard a “holster click.” Since she was sitting in the front seat, she said she couldn’t see Mitchell from behind her, but heard another guard member say, “Put that up. You almost shot me in the hand.”
Two National Guard witnesses told police that they personally saw Mitchell point his weapon at his colleague, while three others said they didn’t see the weapon. The guard member sitting next to him in the van said, “Why would you do that?” and Mitchell responded, “It doesn’t matter; it was on safe,” according to court documents.
Mitchell’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 15, when he attends a status hearing for the felony charges.
Over 3,000 National Guard troops from across the country have been mobilized to Washington, D.C., over the last year as part of President Donald Trump’s task force to discourage crime, according to officials.
TRUMP THREATENS THINK TANK WITH LAWSUIT OVER DISAGREEMENT WITH NATIONAL GUARD EFFECT ON CRIME
Washington, D.C., council members are seeking to end the mobilization, drawing fire from the Trump administration.
“Directly coinciding with the assistance of the National Guard, the murder rate dropped substantially,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald wrote in a letter to the council last month. “To date, D.C. has seen the largest reduction in violent crime in the history of the city. You might pretend violent crime isn’t down in D.C. or act like the cause is unknown, but the public knows the city is safer.”