Ritzy DC neighborhood sees yet more crime

A studio apartment at the upscale Illume apartments in DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood currently rents for $1,747 a month. The complex boasts rooftop pools, “luxe quartz countertops with modern tile backsplashes” and the chance to “pamper your pup at Luna’s pet spa.” Not mentioned on its sleekly designed website: “escaping gunmen running through the courtyard.”

“We have been informed by the police that there is an armed suspect in the area,” the building emailed residents Tuesday afternoon. “We strongly advise all residents to stay inside their home with the door locked until further notice.”

A statement from the Capitol Police said, “Our patrol officers spotted a vehicle that was connected to a previous shooting that occurred in MPD’s 2nd District. The people, who were near the car, ran into an apartment complex.”

A SWAT team arrived on the scene. Footage from residents shows a young African-American man in a light-colored hoodie running through the courtyard after passing through a fob-accessed door. 

The Spectator understands that a number of members of Congress reside in the Illume complex. A week ago DC congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said, “To suggest that a member of Congress from Florida knows or cares more about public safety in DC than DC’s locally elected officials is patronizing.” Her Democratic colleague, Texas congressman Henry Cuellar, was carjacked at gunpoint a block away from the Illume in October. 

Lianna, an Illume resident says that crime has become more commonplace close to the complex. “A few months ago, I woke up at 3 a.m. to a woman screaming,” she told The Spectator. “I tilted the blinds open just enough to see a man beating up a young woman — ten feet away from my first-floor apartment window. I called 911 immediately and just stayed still for about fifteen minutes as the screaming went on. His car’s headlights were directly facing my apartment, so anyone looking from the outside could see my silhouette. I felt so hopeless. This wasn’t even on the street — it was a private cul-de-sac, the back delivery entrance of Illume. Cops never came. Just another Tuesday in Navy Yard.”

The armed suspect incident comes almost exactly a month after residents at the Arris building (half a mile southeast, cheapest apartment $1,994 a month) evacuated and were then told to shelter in place. A gunman who had just shot a DC Housing Authority officer had fled into the complex. You can read my in-no-way prescient cover story from the April edition of our magazine about why Navy Yard is a failing experiment in gentrification here.

-Matt McDonald

On our radar

SCHLAPPED The man who accused American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp of sexual assault has dropped his lawsuit and apologized for his claims, dubbing them “the result of a complete misunderstanding.” 

RFK RUNNING MATE Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Tuesday that lawyer and philanthropist Nicole Shanahan — ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin — will join his campaign as his vice presidential pick. 

TRUMP’S TRUTH BOOST Social media company Truth Social’s stock surged on its first day of public trading under the ticker DJT, pushing the former president’s net worth to $6.4 billion. 

Virginia’s ‘Backward Budget’ battle 

Governor Glenn Youngkin and the state legislature are butting heads over the latest budget advanced by the Democratic majorities and some Republicans in the House of Delegates and State Senate. Youngkin, speaking behind a podium emblazoned with the logo “The Backward Budget” earlier this month, accused Democrats of harming the state by passing new sales taxes without offsetting decreases in personal income taxes. He also knocked them for refusing to approve funding for his plans to bring a new sports arena to northern Virginia, which he says will increase jobs and revenue for the state. According to the mayor of Alexandria, the stadium deal is effectively dead and the Washington Capitals and Wizards will stay in DC in exchange for promises of a greater crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

Democrats such Senator Louise Lucas, who chairs the finance and appropriations committee, have suggested they want something in return for funding the arena; two priorities include toll relief and funding for recreational marijuana dispensaries. They want “a pot shop on every corner” and “a slot machine in every 7-Eleven,” Youngkin has scoffed in response.

The governor has recently vetoed a number of Democrat-backed bills, as well, including legislation that would add DEI initiatives to state grant funding, ban the sale of some semi-automatic firearms and loosen parole and probation requirements for criminals. He has not ruled out vetoing the entire budget advanced by the state legislature. The message to Democrats was clear: the governor will not make an unseemly trade for his sports teams. Although Democrats and the media will rub in the supposed loss for Youngkin (and the Commonwealth of Virginia), conservatives should applaud Youngkin for refusing to stoop to the usual political gamesmanship and favor-trading that usually accompanies major deals like the one involving the arena.

–Amber Duke

Gallagher under the gun

Congressman Mike Gallagher is facing backlash from the GOP’s conservative base for more than just choosing to leave office early, giving Republicans a mere one vote to spare in the House of Representatives. Conservative activists and commentators are also incensed that Gallagher is staying in office just a couple of weeks past the deadline for which Wisconsin could hold a special election to fill his seat. 

Gallagher is not leaving Congress until April 19, while the deadline under Wisconsin law for a special election falls on the first Tuesday in April of an election year. Doing the math, Gallagher would have to vacate by April 2 in order for there to be a special election, and his seat would be filled before July. 

Instead, his critics argue, Gallagher is not just ensuring voters don’t get a say on his replacement until the November elections, but that the seat remains open until next January, further imperiling the slim GOP majority. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling on the conference to expel Gallagher before his self-imposed retirement date so that the seat can be filled promptly. 

–Cockburn

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