Category: Washington D.C.
‘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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DC police chief manipulated crime stats to make city look better, report claims
Resigning Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith deliberately manipulated Washington, D.C., crime data to appear lower, according to a new report.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform’s majority staff released an interim report on Sunday as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations that MPD leadership pressured commanders to alter crime stats. The committee launched the probe into the department in August.
‘Chief Smith should resign today.’
After interviewing seven acting MPD commanders and one suspended MPD commander, the committee found that the department’s leadership placed “a higher priority on suppressing public reporting of crime statistics than stopping crime itself.”
The commanders allegedly told lawmakers that “they were not only pressured, but also instructed, to lower crime classifications to lesser intermediate offenses in such a way that those offenses would not be included in the [daily crime report] reported to the public.”
Smith allegedly created a “toxic management culture” that propagated a “culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation,” the report read.
Lawmakers concluded that the MPD’s crime data remains at risk of manipulation despite Smith’s recent resignation announcement.
RELATED: Whistleblower alleges widespread manipulation of DC crime stats, fueling Oversight Committee probe
James Comer. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
“Every single person who lives, works, or visits the District of Columbia deserves a safe city, yet it’s now clear the American people were deliberately kept in the dark about the true crime rates in our nation’s capital,” stated committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.). “Testimony from experienced and courageous MPD commanders has exposed the truth: Chief Pamela Smith coerced staff to report artificially low crime data and cultivated a culture of fear to achieve her agenda. Chief Smith’s decision to mislead the public by manipulating crime statistics is dangerous and undermines trust in both local leadership and law enforcement.”
“Her planned resignation at the end of the month should not be seen as a voluntary choice, but as an inevitable consequence that should have occurred much earlier. Chief Smith should resign today,” Comer added.
Former Police Commander Michael Pulliam was placed on administrative leave in May and later suspended after he was accused of manipulating crime data. Smith stated at the time that the department was committed to immediately addressing “any irregularity in crime data.”
“Any allegation of this behavior will be dealt with through our internal processes, which will ensure those members are held accountable,” she declared.
RELATED: DC police commander under investigation for allegedly manipulating crime stats
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
However, Smith announced her resignation last week, effective December 31. While she did not give a reason for her departure, some critics questioned the timing amid the ongoing allegations against her and the department.
These allegations against the department and its leadership emerged amid President Donald Trump’s warning that his administration would take over D.C. if its leaders failed to address the area’s crime crisis.
The MPD did not respond to a request for comment.
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CAIR’s Political Arm Has Operated Without Legal Authority Across US, Watchdog Report Finds
The Council of American-Islamic Relations’s (CAIR) political advocacy arm, CAIR Action, is operating “without the licenses, registrations, or legal authority required in any of the 22 states where it raises money or conducts political activity,” an investigation shared with the Washington Free Beacon states. According to a watchdog group, CAIR’s nationwide political machine has systematically evaded state and federal regulators in what may amount to an illicit fundraising scheme.
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