A former staff member from President Biden’s administration has criticized cities governed by Democrats after a tumultuous ‘juvenile takeover’ in Washington DC’s upscale Navy Yard area.
Yemisi Egbewole, who previously held the position of chief of staff for Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, voiced her disapproval as numerous teenagers were observed racing through the streets, shouting, and engaging in fights on Saturday evening.
During the chaos, two teenagers were taken into custody, and authorities from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) seized two firearms.
“Cities led by Democrats need to wake up,” Egbewole wrote on X, sharing a video capturing the disorder.
“Allowing this kind of behavior is unjust to both the local residents and the kids involved.”
She reiterated her stance with additional comments in a subsequent post.
‘Imagine paying $3,500 a month to live in a box in the city, working all week to afford it and when the weekend comes, you can’t even enjoy it because kids are bare-knuckle beating each other outside your window,’ Egbewole wrote.
‘The city you pay taxes to does nothing. Incredible.’
Yemisi Egbewole, who served as the chief of staff to Joe Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, called out Democrat-run cities following a chaotic ‘juvenile takeover’ in Washington DC’s upscale Navy Yard neighborhood
Video posted online showed dozens of teenagers fighting near First and M Streets SE
Police in Washington DC established an 11pm curfew, prohibiting teenagers under the age of 18 from gathering in groups of nine or more from the U Street Corridor and the Navy Yard ‘unless engaged in certain exempted activities’ earlier this month, NBC Washington reports.
It was adopted under the Juvenile Curfew Second Emergency Act which was passed late last year following other takeovers in the city.
The law gives the chief of the MPD authority to establish curfew zones ‘in an area where large groups of youths are gathering or intend to gather in a manner that poses a risk of substantial harm to public safety.’
President Donald Trump also deployed National Guard members to the nation’s capital to deter crime last year, with around 2,500 expected to remain in DC until the end of this year.
But that apparently did not stop hoards of teenagers from gathering in a park at the Navy Yard at around 6.30pm on Saturday, with the group soon swelling to roughly 200 teenagers by 8.30pm, according to the MPD.
Officers then received a report of a robbery at 9.15pm, when a group of teenagers allegedly robbed another teen in the 1200 block of First Street SE and took the victim’s shoes and jacket.
The victim was not injured in the assault, but the assailants who attacked him have not yet been arrested, WUSA 9 reports.
At around 9.30pm, another video posted online showed dozens of teenagers fighting near First and M Streets SE.
Members of the National Guard could be seen in the video standing nearby as the crowds swarmed the intersection.
Nearly 200 teenagers participated in the juvenile takeover in the Navy Yard, despite authorities establishing an 11pm curfew earlier in the month
Roughly 15 minutes later, the MPD said a teenager shot a gun into the air while inside the park.
A National Guard member quickly apprehended the teen, while officers with the MPD recovered the weapon.
The teenager, only identified as a 15-year-old boy, is now being charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm, endangerment with a firearm and carrying a pistol without a license.
The mayhem continued around 10pm when a group of teens jumped and robbed two others near New Jersey Avenue and M Street.
The victims in that case brought themselves to the hospital to be treated for their injuries.
At around 10.34pm, members with the US Secret Service also noticed someone matching the description of a suspect get into a rideshare vehicle.
The US Secret Service then conducted a traffic stop, during which time, the suspect tried to get rid of his gun, officers said.
Police were able to recover the weapon, however, and placed the 16-year-old under arrest for carrying a pistol without a license.
Authorities said two teenagers were arrested, and police were able to recover two firearms
She shared footage of the takeover and declared that the city needs to ‘enforce consequences’
The crowd finally seemed to die down by 11pm due to the curfew, which now remains in place until April 15, but one teenager was arrested just before 11.30pm for violating the curfew.
‘The behavior displayed last night in Navy Yard cannot be tolerated and we are very thankful that no one was seriously injured,’ interim Police Chief Jeffrey W Carroll said in a statement.
‘I commend our members and our partners for their professionalism and for safely recovering two firearms from individuals within this group.’
He then advised that police ‘need parents and guardians to be proactive and know where their children are and who they are with at all times.’
