D.C. resident and politician Nate Fleming was “shocked, angry and embarrassed,” after a carjacking in Northeast on Saturday left him without a vehicle.
Metropolitan police alerted the community to a robbery investigation in the 4200 block of Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NE, where moments prior, Fleming was leaving a gas station.
It was then, Fleming said, that four apparent Black men wearing black hoodies and masks left in his vehicle. However, in a statement he released confirming the attack, he also highlighted the systemic issues that he believes contributed to the carjacking.
“These carjackings are evidence that the perpetrators of violent crimes are getting younger and younger,” Fleming said in a statement. “We must attack public safety as a short term issue, but we must recognize that violence is a symptom of long term issues like educational inequality, lack of economic opportunity and the lack of mental health care resources in our communities.”
A current candidate for a city council at-large position, and former shadow representative for the District in Congress, Fleming said he was shocked, but not surprised by the attack. Instead, he points a finger at what he calls “the crisis facing young people in this city.”
To be threatened at gunpoint is shocking, but I am not surprised that I was attacked given the increase in carjackings and the crisis facing young people in this city. The perpetrators of violent crime are getting younger and younger.
— Nate Fleming (@NateforDC) Jan. 16, 2022
“The police responded to this incident quickly and professionally, but we must put our force in [a position] to be more preventive of these types of crimes through stronger, community-based policing,” Fleming said.
Police said that the suspects were last seen driving a black BMW 328i with Virginia tags. Anyone with information was asked to call the D.C. police department.
WTOP’s Juan Herrera contributed to this report.
