WaPo skewers Mayor Bowser's ‘unclear’ crime policies after NFL player shot, DC crimes increase '89%'

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After the Sunday night carjacking and shooting of Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr., who is currently hospitalized for his injuries, Washington Post reporters Emily Davies and Omari Daniels wrote a piece criticizing D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's crime policies, especially after she vowed to disrupt criminal activity in the city.

The report noted that it is "unclear" how Bowser’s policy to cut crime in the district is working, considering that the high-profile NFL player was shot, and that "violent crime is up 89 percent" in parts of the city. 

Published Monday, the piece opened with Bowser’s explicit ambitions to stop crime in her city juxtaposed with the current state of crime in Washington, D.C. It read, "Two months after D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser launched a program to disrupt ‘patterns of violence’ at three city nightlife hubs, a Washington Commanders running back was shot and injured during an armed robbery on one of those thoroughfares."

Naming the NFL player and describing the grisly incident, the report noted, "Brian Robinson Jr., who was on track to earn a significant role in the upcoming season, was attacked in broad daylight Sunday in the heart of the H Street corridor, a 1½-mile stretch in Northeast Washington full of popular restaurants and bars."

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Mayor Muriel Bower was slammed by her city's own paper for not doing enough on DC's rising crime wave which almost claimed the life of Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson Jr. on Sunday evening.  (Brian Stukes/Getty Images)

The authors added that "The shooting has drawn national attention to gun violence in D.C. and raised questions about whether the city is doing enough to keep its residents safe — including in the areas where officials have invested additional resources to curb crime."

The piece explained that the carjacking and shooting of Robinson Jr. is part of a crime rate that has nearly doubled in the H Street corridor. "Along the H Street corridor, violent crime is up 89 percent compared with the same time last year, according to data provided by the city." 

Further detailing this crime wave, Davies and Daniels wrote, "Robberies, including carjackings, are up more than 100 percent, from 13 at this time in 2021 to 28 so far this year. And there have been eight reported assaults with a dangerous weapon — an increase from five at this time in 2021."

The report turned back to Bowser’s "plan" to keep residents safe. "In June, not long after a 15-year-old was killed and three others wounded in a shooting at an event in the U Street area, Bowser (D) told residents that she had a plan to keep them safe in the busiest entertainment hubs." 

This included her vow to "station teams of police officers, transportation officials and other agency employees on H Street, Connecticut Avenue and the U Street corridor on weekend nights through Labor Day."

However, the piece declared, "Two months later, the effectiveness of that strategy is unclear. The mayor’s nightlife teams, which are in service from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, were not active when Robinson was shot."

Robinson Jr. wasn’t even the only person attacked in the area that evening. The Post reported that he was "one of three people shot at or stabbed this weekend along the H Street corridor, police said."

And local residents told the paper "that they have come to expect occasional violence in their neighborhood and that the events of the weekend did not seem particularly unusual."

Brian Robinson Jr. #8 of the Washington Commanders poses for a portrait during the NFLPA Rookie Premiere on May 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California  (Michael Owens/Getty Images)

Though the deputy mayor for public safety Christopher Geldart implied city officials are doing their best keeping crime at bay, stating, "There are going to be times when incidents do happen. But I do believe the strategies we have in place and what we have been able to show in our U Street, H Street and Connecticut Avenue corridors have been a success."

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Other critics of Bowser’s policies slammed the mayor after the attack on Robinson. Conservative commentator Greg Price wrote, "Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson was just shot in an attempted carjacking on H Street in DC. DC has become a crime-ridden cesspool and Muriel Bowser is too busy denying an education to half the city's black children to stop it."

He urged the mayor, "Fix your damn city @MayorBowser."

Breitbart reporter Jacob Bliss partially blamed Bowser for the shooting, tweeting, "Another shooting just a few blocks from my apartment under Democrat mayor @MurielBowser."

Real Clear Investigations senior writer Mark Hemingway shared the Washington Post report, and condemned Bowser’s leadership on crime, writing, "I’ve lived in the DC metro area for nearly a quarter of a century, and city governance has always been inept. But even when you set the bar low, Bowser has been an utter disaster."

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According to the Washington Post, some parts of DC have seen an 89% increase in crime under Mayor Muriel Browser. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFPvia Getty Images)