NBC Reporter Sounds Off on D.C. Government Over ‘Staggering Failures’ On Crime, Losing Sports Teams

Isaac SchorrFeb 19th, 2024, 2:33 pm
 

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

NBC News senior political reporter Sahil Kapur sounded off on Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and the City Council for their “staggering” failure to address the city’s crime epidemic on Monday.

A Washington Post investigation into Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis’s decision to move his teams’ arena to Alexandria after being courted by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) published on Monday found that crime, money, and overall opportunity all played roles in his ultimate decision.

According to the Post, “Leonsis chafed at what he viewed as city officials’ lack of urgency in addressing conditions around the arena,” and “felt his teams were not a top priority for the mayor and her staff, who had been working to woo the Washington Commanders from Maryland to their old home on the Anacostia River.”

From the article:

Leonsis and his staff told the D.C. Council and the mayor’s office that they weren’t doing enough to address violence, drug use, homelessness and struggling businesses around the arena and the practice facility in Southeast. The crime was putting staff and fans at risk, they said, and they repeatedly asked city officials to assign more police to the areas around Monumental’s facilities.

Kapur weighed in on the two teams’ departure from the capital on X (formerly Twitter) arguing that “DCers can sound off on Ted Leonsis, but don’t lose sight of the staggering failures by @MayorBowser & DC Council that let it get to this point.”

“Losing the Wizards and Caps could devastate the economy downtown. And for what? Per WaPo, an inability to address crime and a refusal to act on pervasive noise problems because that would upset street musicians,” he continued.

The number of serious crimes committed in the city — including homicides and carjackings — have skyrocketed in recent years. Two hundred and seventy-four murders were committed in D.C. last year, far eclipsing the 203 the homicides committed in 2022. The number of carjackings also increased from 485 in 2022 — and just 152 in 2019 — to 959 in 2023.

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