President Donald Trump’s federalization of Washington, D.C., on the heels of declaring a “crime emergency” on Monday was met with mixed reactions, but it has also launched a conversation among residents and members of the media about a subject that, for years, has been hidden in plain view.
For instance, ABC News anchor Kyra Phillips mentioned on-air hours after Trump’s declaration that she was “jumped” just two blocks away from her Washington, D.C. studio “within the last two years.”
Violent crime in the nation’s capital has reportedly dropped since 2023, according to data from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) cited by The Washington Post on Monday. Still, Phillips pointed out that multiple alleged incidents have taken place near ABC News’ Washington, D.C., bureau — including two network employees who were reportedly among the victims.
“We’ve been talking so much about the numbers and yeah, usually that’s how you play devil’s advocate, is you talk about, ‘Oh, well stats say crime is down.’ However, I can tell you firsthand here in downtown D.C. where we work right here around our bureau just in the past six months, you know, there were two people shot,” Phillips said. “One person died literally two blocks down here from the bureau.”
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“It was within the last two years that I actually was jumped walking just two blocks down from here. And then just this morning one of my coworkers said her car was stolen a block away from the bureau,” she continued.
“So we can talk about the numbers going down, but crime is happening every single day because we’re all experiencing it firsthand while working and living down here,” Phillips continued.
While violent crime in Washington, D.C., is reportedly down 26% compared to 2024, the MPD’s crime tracker shows there have still been 99 homicides in the city so far in 2025.
Meanwhile, D.C. Police Commander Michael Pulliam is under investigation over allegations that he manipulated crime statistics, NBC4 Washington reported in July. The department suspended him, but Pulliam has denied any wrongdoing.
Other Washington-based media figures also acknowledged that Trump’s crime crackdown is overdue.
Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough criticized his Democrat “friends” who, he said, have privately admitted that “Washington should have gotten involved years ago” to address D.C.’s crime “mess,” yet publicly took to Twitter to express outrage over Trump’s announcement of a federal crackdown.
“People have been calling me over the past couple days, going, you know: ‘Washington, should have gotten involved years ago. This place is dangerous. It’s a mess. It’s a wreck’ and whatever. And then they’ll go on Twitter, go: ‘This is the worst outrage of all time, these shocking—’” Scarborough said.
“Which I understand, it’s like people need to express their concerns about Donald Trump going too far. We saw what happened back in 2020 with the National Guard. Certainly can’t have any repeat of that. Don’t want the federalization of the entire city,” he continued. “But man, I don’t care what the crime statistics say. Crime has been a problem in this city for the 32 years I’ve been living inside and outside of the city.
“Mika and I, we’re talking to somebody who lives in the city, these are all Democrats who said, ‘you know, our friends won’t walk more than three blocks in D.C. at night without feeling…’ – complete opposite of New York City, where I walk 40-50 blocks at night and not think twice about it in New York City, in Midtown, Downtown. I mean, New York is a safe, safe place,” he added.
“Washington, D.C.? Man, it’s door to door. I mean, I get one of those bikes – you know me, I love riding the bikes around – I’ll ride around and I go door to door. I don’t slow down. It’s very dangerous there,” the host noted.
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