Latest news with #Giaritelli
New York Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Journalist recounts harrowing broad-daylight sex assault in DC – says cops refused to include the attack in crime stats
A formerly DC-based journalist revealed Thursday that she was 'violently attacked and sexually assaulted' in the nation's capital – and that the city's police department refused to include the incident in their crime stats. Anna Giaritelli, a homeland security reporter with the Washington Examiner, detailed the heinous, broad-daylight assault against her, as well as the response from the Metropolitan Police Department and the court system, in a dramatic op-ed – which comes days after President Trump announced a sweeping crime crackdown in Washington, DC. 'On a Saturday morning in 2020, I walked out of my apartment on Capitol Hill to mail a package at a post office several blocks from the US Capitol. I put on my black sweatshirt and black sweatpants then headed out the door. I never made it to the post office,' Giaritelli wrote. 'Just one block from my apartment building's entrance, I was attacked by a large man well over six feet tall. He charged at me for a reason that I still do not understand. In broad daylight and on well-traveled 2nd Street NE next to Union Station, I fought to get away as he sexually assaulted me,' she continued. 'If it had not been for others in the vicinity, including a construction worker named Donny who heard my screaming and ran to my rescue, I don't know if I would be here today.' Trump has deployed the National Guard and hundreds of federal law enforcement officers to the streets of DC to address crime in the city. Giaritelli explained that the attack demonstrated to her, firsthand, how 'DC police and the courts fail the public.' Despite her attacker, described as a 'homeless man,' being apprehended 'months later' and sentenced to prison time, Giaritelli wrote: 'If you look for evidence that the attack happened in the city's crime statistics, you won't find it.' 'DC police covered up the unspeakable wrong that the stranger did to me,' the reporter said. The Metropolitan Police Department's online 'Crime Cards' statistics page – which purportedly tracks criminal offenses and pegs them to a map, showing where they occurred in the district – does not include Giaritelli's attack and sexual assault, she claims. 'When I asked MPD in 2020 why my incident was not on its crime map, an MPD spokesman said the city only includes 1st degree felonies under its crime stats,' the reporter explained. 'That would mean that for every person robbed, assaulted, or sexually abused in anything less than egregious ways, you have not been counted into the total tally.' 'The pain you suffered was not severe enough, according to MPD's standards.' The reporter said her attacker was arrested five times — and released from jail every time — as he awaited trial for his sex crimes. Giaritelli said she was then told by MPD, this week, that the crime map does include 'some sex abuse charges, but not all of them.' She noted that the crime against her is still not listed in the online database. Giaritelli praised DC law enforcement's immediate response to the attack, noting that they collected DNA evidence which they were able to match to a vagrant about two months later, leading to his arrest. Her attacker, however, was 'immediately released from jail' by the judge handling the case, leading Giaritelli to very reasonably fear that he was back 'living in a tunnel' just blocks from her apartment. The vagrant was 'arrested in five separate incidents' and allowed out of jail every single time, while he awaited trial for the sexual assault, Giaritelli said. MPD did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment. Trump on Monday claimed that DC's crime statistics – showing violent offenses down about 26% compared to last year – were 'phony' and promised that Attorney General Pam Bondi will be 'looking into that.' The president further noted that a DC police commander was suspended last month for allegedly falsifying crime data to make trends appear more positive.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Washington, DC crime reporter turned victim speaks out, says Trump recognizes ‘major issue' impacting lives
While much of the legacy media has downplayed or dismissed crime in Washington, D.C., on the heels of the Trump administration's crackdown, one journalist decided to speak out about a horrific attack that changed the course of her life. President Donald Trump announced the federalization of Washington, D.C.'s police force on Monday, an unprecedented move taken by no prior U.S. president. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb condemned the move, insisting there is "no crime emergency" in the nation's capital, and many liberal pundits and mainstream news outlets have suggested Trump is overreaching. New York Times reporter Peter Baker called it a "nonexistent crime crisis," while CNN and MSNBC filled their shows with guests to slam Trump's move. A variety of outlets harped on data that violent crime in D.C. is down by 26% this year, and many others insisted the move is simply a "distraction." In 2020, during the early stages of the COVID pandemic, Anna Giaritelli took a Saturday morning stroll in what she believed was a "really safe part of town" near Union Station, only a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. At the time, Giaritelli covered crime and civil unrest for the Washington Examiner, but she had no idea she was about to become a victim herself. "I was randomly attacked by a homeless man and fought with him for my life and survived. And that event has had a significant impact on my life, changed the course of my life," Giaritelli told Fox News Digital. Giaritelli was injured and sexually abused during the horrific attack. Police used DNA found on her clothing to determine that the suspect was a repeat offender and already in their system. She said he was finally arrested "months later" and a "judge chose to release him onto the streets" before his trial. Giaritelli planned to live in Washington, D.C., for "decades," but the harrowing ordeal changed her plans. She first moved to another part of town, hoping the distance would allow her to remain in the city, but frustration continued to grow. "Through the year and a half that we waited for our case to go to trial, this man was arrested five more times, including for wielding a machete on Capitol Hill. And the judge chose in all five times to release him from jail back onto the street," Giaritelli said. "I didn't feel protected by the judicial system. I didn't feel safe in Washington, D.C. because of these decisions by the courts," she continued. "And so ultimately, I had to take my own safety into concern, and I left D.C. with nowhere to go really, trying to figure out how to start a life and what that would look like somewhere else." Giaritelli believes the police worked extremely hard to put her attacker behind bars ahead of his trial but the decision by the court "enabled him to victimize more and more people." "I found out at sentencing that he [assaulted] an off-duty police officer, a woman, several weeks, months prior to what he did to me. So, this was an individual that had a clear trajectory and as much as police wanted to keep him off the streets, the courts would not let them do that," Giaritelli said. "He was sentenced to federal prison in 2022," Giaritelli continued. "He has since been released from federal prison and to my knowledge is back in Washington, D.C." Giaritelli, who moved to Texas and began covering homeland security, immigration and border issues for the Washington Examiner, said the attack completely changed the trajectory of her career. "Trying to work in politics and media, you're limited to what you can do if you're not actually in Washington," Giaritelli said. "I don't know where I would be now if I was still living in D.C." Giaritelli was extremely grateful the Examiner allowed her to switch beats and work remotely, but she was in a "bad place for months," and initially found it very difficult to adapt to life in a new city. "I've recovered. I've done a lot of work in therapy… to get to a good place," she said. The journalist was eager to hear other victims speak out, not just about the crime issue and needing more police, but also about "the courts and making sure people who are a danger to the public are not released." But many victims remain silent, so Giaritelli decided to share her own story with an emotional social media post that began, "For people who say they don't know a DC crime victim... Hi, I'm Anna." "I wanted to be part of the solution," she said. "I think the Trump administration recognizes… this isn't a one-off. This is a mass problem that we've seen for years." Giaritelli plans to release a book that answers many questions she had five years ago. "What is it like as a victim? Are the thoughts I'm having, is the anxiety and the depression, is this all normal? Is this what people go through? And so, I wrote a book really aimed at women in particular who've been through sexual assault, been through different crimes, and come out and say, 'Now what? How do I get back the rest of my life?' And that was what I wanted to put forward," Giaritelli said. Giaritelli, who was hesitant to offer her take on the Trump administration's crackdown because of her role as a working journalist, wants Americans to understand that crime remains a serious issue in the nation's capital. "I think President Trump is taking action because the people around him who live in Washington, D.C., have brought this to his attention and know that this is a major issue," she said.
