CV NEWS FEED // Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX, is reported safe after he was carjacked at gunpoint outside his Washington D.C. apartment Monday night.
“As Congressman Cuellar was parking his car this evening, 3 armed assailants approached the Congressman and stole his vehicle,” stated his Chief of Staff Jacob Hochberg. “Luckily, he was not harmed and is working with local law enforcement. Thank you to Metro PD and Capitol Police for their swift action and for recovering the Congressman’s vehicle.”
Cuellar’s car was parked on the street at the time of the attack. After an hour, the car was reportedly found two miles away from the scene of the crime. As of early Tuesday, no arrests have been made.
“Armed Carjacking Investigation at the intersection of K street and New Jersey Avenue SE,” said an alert that went out in the area.
The alert said that the taken car “was a white Honda CHR with TX tags,” fitting the description of Cuellar’s vehicle.
“Lookout for three black males wearing all black clothing,” the alert went on to say. Some reports indicated that there may have been a fourth assailant.
The violent altercation occurred in Navy Yard, an affluent area in close proximity to Capitol Hill that Forbes in 2020 dubbed “D.C.’s hottest neighborhood.”
Andrew Solender of Axios described Cuellar’s building as “a dorm building” in which “dozens” of other lawmakers have apartments. He referred to the fact that the congressmen who stay in the building during their time in D.C. often communicate via group chat.
“A member of Congress who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the carjacking came as a particular shock because of how many lawmakers live in the building and its Capitol Police presence,” Solender wrote.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, responded to the news, stating that it should embolden Congress to pass laws addressing rampant crime in the nation’s capital.
“My friend, @RepCuellar (D. TX), became the victim of a crime tonight in what’s considered a nice part of D.C.,” the senator wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) Monday. “D.C. is dangerous. Something’s gone terribly wrong here—for far too long. Congress has the sole power to make D.C.’s laws, and must intervene.”
The New York Post reported that as of October 2, “750 carjackings have been reported in DC this year alone, with 75% involving a firearm. That is a 115% increase in the number of carjackings from this time last year, according to DC police crime statistics.”
Cuellar’s attack was not the first time a member of Congress or their staff was recently the victim of a crime in D.C.
In February, Rep. Angie Craig, D-MN, was assaulted in an elevator in her apartment building, allegedly by Kendrick Hamlin, a 26-year-old homeless man. Hamlin had reportedly grabbed her neck, but she was able to escape without significant injuries by throwing hot coffee at him in self-defense.
The day following her attack, the congresswoman said: “My morning coffee really saved the day yesterday, but not exactly how I expected it to.” She stated that she “was very, very lucky” that she “was not more injured.”
The following month, Phillip Todd, a young staffer for Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, was viciously stabbed on the same street as Craig’s building “in broad daylight.” Todd’s family described the attack as “random and brutal.” The 26-year-old staffer survived but sustained serious injuries.
In June, a staffer for Rep. Brad Finstad, R-MN, was attacked at gunpoint following the Congressional Baseball Game. That incident, like Cuellar’s carjacking, took place in the “trendy” Navy Yard neighborhood.
