ABC Information anchor Kyra Phillips on Monday recounted a harrowing encounter she had with a “half-dressed” homeless man who mugged her in downtown Washington, DC, as she famous that many within the nation’s capital are experiencing crime “firsthand” regardless of what official statistics present.
“I can inform you firsthand right here in downtown DC the place we work, proper right here round our bureau, simply previously six months, you already know, there have been two individuals shot, one individual died, actually two blocks down right here from the bureau,” Phillips defined.
“It was inside the final two years that I really was jumped strolling simply two blocks down from right here,” she revealed.
“After which, simply this morning, one among my co-workers mentioned her automotive was stolen, a block away from the bureau,” Phillips added.
“We will speak in regards to the numbers happening, however crime is occurring each single day as a result of we’re all experiencing it firsthand, working and dwelling down right here,” the “ABC Information Dwell” host continued, as she reported on President Trump’s choice to put the metropolis’s police division beneath federal management and deploy Nationwide Guard troops into the streets.
Phillips later described her encounter with the mugger as “scary as hell,” as she interviewed DC US Lawyer Jeanine Pirro.
“So, I used to be jumped simply two blocks right here from the ABC bureau. It was not a minor, although,” she advised Pirro, noting that “it’s occurred to lots of people in our constructing, sadly.”
“He was homeless and half-dressed – clearly wasn’t in his clear thoughts,” Phillips mentioned of her attacker.
The previous CNN journalist mentioned she felt her most suitable choice was to combat again.
“It was scary as hell, I’m not going to lie, however I fought again. I didn’t see any weapons in his arms. I felt prefer it was my solely alternative,” Phillips recalled.
Trump fumed Monday that DC has been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of untamed youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless individuals.”
The president vowed that his administration is “not going to let it occur anymore,” and can take away homeless encampments from all public locations, together with in parks and underpasses.
The most recent knowledge from DC’s Metropolitan Police Division reveals violent crime has dropped 26% within the district up to now this 12 months, in comparison with 2024.
General crime is down 7% up to now, in accordance with MPD.
Trump claimed Monday that the numbers had been “phony” and promised that Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi will likely be “wanting into that.”
The president famous {that a} DC police commander was suspended final month for allegedly falsifying crime knowledge to make traits seem extra constructive.
Pirro, in an interview with Fox Information host Sean Hannity, described DC as an “extremely violent space” with a criminal offense drawback that’s so “horrific” that residents have stopped reporting a few of it altogether.
“What we’ve acquired listed here are individuals that aren’t even making complaints in regards to the quality-of-life crimes, whether or not it’s shoplifting or damaging property or an tried carjacking,” the DC US legal professional mentioned.
“They don’t even name the police,” Pirro continued, arguing that “we’re not even seeing many of the crime that’s occurring.”
The previous New York district legal professional and Fox Information host additionally argued that the explanation Trump’s press convention saying the DC crime crackdown was “so packed” is as a result of many journalists, like Phillips, have been the victims of crime within the nation’s capital.
“These reporters in that room – and it was packed to the gills – expertise crime themselves,” Pirro mentioned.
