White House: Man on Moped in D.C. Assaulted Officers, Resulting in Concussion

The White House asserted on Sunday that the media misreported a story concerning officers arresting a man on a moped in D.C., stating he was suspected of having gang ties and had violently resisted arrest.

Initial reports by the Washington Post and Politico suggested that the president’s crime crackdown in the capital led to an innocent man being detained while riding his moped.

“Yesterday morning, near 14th Street NW, a group of masked law enforcement officers apprehended a moped driver. Onlookers outside a coffee shop and at the entrance of a luxury condo building recorded the incident on their phones; WaPo reporter Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff was among them. The crowd asked the officers — whose vests simply said ‘police’ — to identify their agency, but their requests were ignored,” reported Politico.

“‘Do I have to answer to you?’ one officer retorted, his inquiry rhetorical. ‘You’ve gotta answer to somebody,’ a bystander shouted. The officers never identified themselves, shared their badge numbers, or disclosed their agency,” it continued. “They placed the moped driver in an unmarked SUV and drove off, destination unknown. A block away, brunch services at Le Diplomate persisted undisturbed.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a post on X that the media didn’t seek the administration’s comments, adding that the man was reputedly gang-affiliated and caused a concussion to an officer during the arrest.

“Politico Playbook today aimed to alarm D.C. residents into thinking federal law enforcement randomly detained an innocent ‘moped driver,’” she wrote. “Had Politico contacted the White House for input prior to publishing, we could have shared facts: The ‘moped driver’ was an illegal alien from Venezuela with suspected gang ties and had an enforceable final order for deportation.”