Category: Daily Caller
‘F you’: Departing DC police chief invokes Bible in performative, preacher-like rebuke to critics amid crime stat scandal
Departing Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith had a final message for her critics amid an ongoing investigation into allegations that the department manipulated its data to make crime appear lower in Washington, D.C.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an interim report earlier this week on its investigation into the MPD. The report claimed that department leadership pressured and instructed commanders to downgrade crime classifications to lesser offenses, including those not included in the daily crime report available to the public. Smith was accused of propagating a “culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation.”
‘This person should’ve NEVER been in ANY position of power.’
The MPD hosted a Friday walkout ceremony for Smith after her resignation announcement last week. Her resignation is effective December 31.
During the ceremony, Smith denied the allegations against her, insisting that she “never will and never would have encouraged, intimidated, retaliated, or told anyone to change their numbers.”
“I hope you can understand this from a spiritual context because the theme of what has resonated in this place is one thing, and that’s God,” Smith said.
She claimed that “some folks” mistook her “passion for being the angry black woman.”
RELATED: DC police chief manipulated crime stats to make city look better, report claims
Pamela Smith. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“My passion is because I love this work. I love God’s people, but I dare not leave without saying something to my haters,” she continued.
Smith was taking on a preacher-like persona by this point, and she raised her gravelly toned voice and offered dramatic pauses as she listed to the crowd all the church-related activities she took part in over the years before declaring “there’s enough Jesus in me that’s gonna get me to heaven if I die tomorrow!”
Then she dropped an F bomb — kinda.
“I’m going to the Bible when I say this to my haters: F you,” Smith declared before issuing another dramatic pause to the crowd, which seemed a bit taken aback.
“I forgive you,” she said soon after. “I forgive you because the Bible makes it very clear. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, when he said to us, ‘Father’ — even in the pit of agony and defeat, he said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ God bless you, and God keep you.”
RELATED: Whistleblower alleges widespread manipulation of DC crime stats, fueling Oversight Committee probe
Smith also called for an investigation into those who accused her of directing police staff to manipulate crime statistics.
Her departing speech was likened to a screaming meltdown.
“WTF?! DC’s DEI police chief Pamela Smith just had a SCREAMING MELTDOWN while giving her resignation speech, after she was caught fudging crime stats,” independent journalist Nick Sortor wrote in a post on social media. “This person should’ve NEVER been in ANY position of power. Especially in the nation’s capital.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized D.C.’s Democratic leadership for the district’s crime wave. He previously threatened a potential federal takeover if leadership failed to address the crisis successfully — and Trump did just that when he federalized D.C. police in August.
RELATED: Fact-check: Legacy media’s bogus defense of DC’s safe-streets narrative crumbles under scrutiny
President Donald Trump. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Former Police Commander Michael Pulliam was suspended in July after he was accused of participating in the alleged data manipulation.
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Democrats melt down as Kennedy Center board votes unanimously to rename building to honor Trump
Democrats are up in arms after Trump’s White House announced that the Kennedy Center will be renamed in honor of President Donald Trump for his restoration efforts.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
‘The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur.’
“I have just been informed that the highly respected Board of the Kennedy Center, some of the most successful people from all parts of the world, have just voted unanimously to rename the Kennedy Center to the Trump-Kennedy Center, because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building,” Leavitt said. “Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation. Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future!”
Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images
“The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” Leavitt added.
“The Trump Kennedy Center shows a bipartisan commitment to the Arts,” Richard Grenell said on X.
Maria Shriver, John F. Kennedy’s niece, posted a lengthy statement complaining about the move.
“It is beyond comprehension that this sitting president has sought to rename this great memorial dedicated to President Kennedy. It is beyond wild that he would think adding his name in front of President Kennedy’s name is acceptable. It is not. Next thing perhaps he will want to rename JFK Airport, rename the Lincoln Memorial, the Trump Lincoln Memorial. The Trump Jefferson Memorial. The Trump Smithsonian. The list goes on,” Shriver wrote in part on Thursday.
President Trump praised the “very distinguished” Kennedy Center board for the “unanimous” vote to change the name of the center.
However, several Democratic congressmen who are also ex officio members of the Kennedy Center board issued a statement complaining that they were silenced during the vote for this change.
In part, their statement read, “This whole process displays the corruption that permeates the entire Trump administration, and as ex-officio members of the Kennedy Center Board, we will be unwavering in our commitment to holding this administration accountable.”
The Democrats, however, failed to mention that as ex officio members of the board, they do not have a vote, meaning their input was never needed and does not affect the unanimity of the vote.
On Friday afternoon, videos were posted of the addition of Donald Trump’s name on the facade of the building. It now reads: “The Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”
The Trump-Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Unhinged female absolutely pummels male employee at Planet Fitness in Florida
An unhinged female was caught on video absolutely pummeling a male employee at a Planet Fitness in Florida last week.
The attack took place Dec. 12 at the gym on SW 8th Avenue, the City of Miami Police Department told WFOR-TV.
‘She took things too far, brutally battered our client, and ultimately left him in the hospital with a broken nose and severe emotional distress.’
The female is seen on cellphone video climbing over the front counter of the Planet Fitness in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, getting in a male worker’s face, and then socking him so hard in the face that the punch is audible on the clip.
You can view WFOR’s video report — which includes video of the attack — here.
She ends up throwing what appear to be eight more punches; no one intervenes, and the male employee doesn’t fight back.
It apparently all started when the male employee told the female gym member to lower her voice or he’d call the police, according to a police report seen on WPLG-TV’s video breakdown of the incident. She was reportedly making a scene in a locker room.
With that, the female “became irate,” balled her fists, and got in the male employee’s face — but the male pushed her away with both hands twice “in self-defense,” the arrest report says.
That’s when the cellphone clip of the physical attack begins.
Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
“She took things too far, brutally battered our client, and ultimately left him in the hospital with a broken nose and severe emotional distress,” Alecsander Kohn, the victim’s attorney, told WFOR.
The female — identified as 35-year-old Kiara Bryant — also was seen on video in the gym’s parking lot trying to leave after the incident, WFOR noted. But she was soon arrested and charged with battery and disorderly conduct, the station said, adding that the victim’s attorney said he’s hoping the district attorney’s office will consider additional charges.
“This would be a case of felony battery,” Kohn added to WFOR. “Hopefully, through some strong advocacy, there will be a modification of the charges to reflect the severity of the injuries he sustained.”
Planet Fitness issued the following statement to the station: “The safety of our employees and members is our top priority, and we have zero tolerance for violence of any kind in our clubs. We are committed to providing a safe environment. The franchise group worked closely with local police and have canceled the member in question.”
The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department told Blaze News that Bryant was booked into jail on the afternoon of Dec. 12 and bonded out early in the morning of Dec. 13.
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