A Washington, D.C., bartender fought back against three teenage would-be carjackers over the weekend and won the battle.
Randy White's reason for mixing it up with the young crooks? "I work too hard for what I have," he told WTTG-TV in the aftermath.
'I can't give up my property like that. It's not in me. I wasn't raised that way.'
The harrowing ordeal took place around 6 p.m. Saturday after White pulled into a Sunoco gas station on 9th Street NW, the station said.
He parked his Jeep Grand Cherokee — and noticed three teenagers standing nearby, WTTG said, adding that White didn't think much about their presence. That would soon change.
White walked into the gas station's convenience store, made his purchase, and returned to his vehicle — and the station said surveillance video showed the trio attacking White. He told WTTG they demanded his belongings.
Nothing doing.
The surveillance clip shows White fighting back, at one point throwing a right-handed haymaker at one of the crooks.
But he told the station one of the suspects managed to put him in a choke hold and pull him to the ground. What's more, White told WTTG one of the suspects dropped a rifle magazine — which police confirmed.
Then White's car keys fell out of his pocket, and one of the teens grabbed the keys and two of the suspects jumped into White's Jeep and tried to drive off, the station said.
But White refused to give up or back down, WTTG said
This time he got into his Jeep with the crooks and continued to fight them, the station said, after which they gave up and departed from the scene — and without the victim's Jeep.
Witnesses quickly called 911, WTTG said, adding that while the teens took White's key fob, it has since been replaced.
So what compelled White to fight back?
"Where I grew up, it's just … I work too hard for what I have," he told the station. "I can't give up my property like that. It's not in me. I wasn't raised that way."
White also sent a message to his attackers, telling WTTG they should "figure something else out to make money. Stop hurting people. It's kind of ridiculous."
Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspects, the station said, adding that those with information are encouraged to contact D.C. police.
You can view a video report here about the incident; it includes the interview with White.
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A gay man said Shake Shack workers beat him up after he kissed his boyfriend inside the fast-food restaurant in Washington, D.C., over the weekend — and the beatdown was recorded on cellphone video.
Christian Dingus, 28, told NBC News he and his partner and friends were at a Dupont Circle location Saturday night after placing an order.
'I’ve been ... thinking of progress and how great that community is here, and then for that all to kind of be shattered, you know, kind of sucks.'
“And while we were back there — kind of briefly — we began to kiss,” Dingus told the news network. "And at that point, a worker came out to us and said that, you know, you can’t be doing that here, can’t do that type of stuff here.”
Dingus told NBC News he and his partner separated — but his partner also got upset at the employee and said he and Dingus had done nothing wrong. Dingus’ partner allegedly was then escorted out of the restaurant, after which a heated verbal argument ensued, the news network reported.
Dingus added to NBC News that when he defended his partner and told employees to not speak to his boyfriend that way, the workers who went outside focused their attention on him.
“And then one of the men, pretty forcefully, like, pushed me out of the way on my shoulder,” Dingus told the news network. “And then, you know, next thing I know, that kind of just, I think, sparked the rest of them. ... They all just kind of started attacking me at that point, dragging me back through the floor and continuously punching me in my head.”
More from NBC News:
Video of the alleged assault taken by a Shake Shack patron and later given to Dingus appears to show a man being shoved as two others in black Shake Shack T-shirts punch at his head. Two more people appear, also in Shake Shack shirts, but it’s unclear what follows.
The clip is 30 seconds long, recorded through windows from inside the restaurant. It does not show what led to the alleged assault or include audio of the men outside.
You can view an NBC News video report here that shows the cellphone clip of the attack as well as an interview with Dingus.
“There was a desire to be violent towards me, and I think it’s very evident in that film,” Dingus added to the news network.
Dingus told NBC News he wasn’t sure who broke up the attack as he was on the sidewalk curled up to protect himself. But he added to the news network that a female customer came out to help him, and someone who recorded the attack offered him a video of the incident.
Police are investigating the case as a hate crime, NBC News reported, adding that a copy of the police report classifies it as a simple assault with an anti-gay bias motivation. The document indicates an officer wrote that Dingus reported being assaulted by multiple people, the news network said, adding that an unnamed suspect said he was defending himself after Dingus put his hands on the person’s neck.
A Shake Shack spokesperson said that the involved workers have been suspended pending further review and that the company is cooperating with authorities, NBC News reported. The spokesperson added that Shake Shack is “committed to taking the appropriate actions” based on the investigation's outcome, the news network added.
Dingus told NBC News he went to an emergency room after the attack and was diagnosed with a concussion and trauma to his jaw; he added to the news network that the side of his face was swollen and bruised.
More from NBC News:
Dupont Circle is considered one of Washington’s popular and trendy neighborhoods and is advertised as being queer-friendly. Destination DC, an organization that markets the city’s tourism destinations, even lists Dupont Circle locations in its guide to a “Best LGBTQ+-Friendly Weekend.”
The incident has shaken Dingus’ sense of safety, and he said he wants to see the perpetrators held accountable.
“You hear all the time that this stuff happens, but, you know, I started kind of believing that it didn’t, right?” Dingus added to the news network. “I’ve been ... thinking of progress and how great that community is here, and then for that all to kind of be shattered, you know, kind of sucks.”
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Washington, D.C., Councilmember Trayon White Sr. was recently arrested for allegedly facilitating a $156,000 bribery scheme. White, a Democrat, has been representing D.C.’s Ward 8 since 2017, and he recently won the Democratic primary in June.
White is accused of using his position in office to pressure government employees to extend contracts in exchange for cash payments, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
‘What you need me to do, man?’
A criminal complaint revealed that White was charged with bribery for allegedly accepting money and other items of value in return for using his position to pressure employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services to extend several contracts valued at $5.2 million.
Since June, White has allegedly received four payments totaling $156,000 from the owner of two unnamed companies. According to the complaint, an arrangement between White and the contractor was caught on video. White allegedly accepted $35,000 from the company while it was “working covertly under the auspices of the FBI.”
According to the affidavit, video footage captured White asking the contractor, “What you need me to do, man?”
“I don’t wanna feel like you gotta gimme something to get something,” White continued before taking an envelope of money from the contractor, according to the filing. “We better than that.”
The affidavit claimed that the contractor agreed to give White a 3% cut of the government contracts he helped to extend.
A spokesperson for the D.C. city council told NBC News that White was arrested around 2 p.m. on Sunday. He was released from custody the following day after his court appearance. His next court date is slated for September 19. The spokesperson noted that the council was unaware of the investigation ahead of White’s arrest, the news outlet reported.
U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves stated, “Because the investigation into the alleged bribery scheme involved contracts that could soon be awarded and other potential official acts that could be taken, our Office took swift steps to address the alleged crimes we were investigating.”
A spokesperson for White did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News. White’s attorney declined to comment, the Washington Post reported.
Earlier this year, White’s campaign committees were hit with a $40,000 fine from the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance for allegedly failing to provide requested documents to rectify expenditure and contribution discrepancies. A spokesperson for White’s office stated that the councilman appealed the fines, the Post reported.
White previously garnered national attention in 2018 when he was accused of spreading an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory when mentioning the Rothschilds in a video he posted on social media.
In the video, White said, “Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation. And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’ And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.”
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A caught-on-camera suspect broke into former President Donald Trump's Virginia campaign office over the weekend.
The suspect was described by Northern Virginia's Loudoun County Sheriff's Office as a "white adult male, wearing dark clothing, a dark cap, and a backpack."
Surveillance video captured the suspect breaking into the location and walking through the office, according to a sheriff's office spokesperson. The sheriff's office was contacted about the break-in at around 9:00 p.m. on Sunday.
Photographs of the suspect have been released to the public in an attempt to identify him as he remains at large. The images appear to show the man either opening or placing items into his backpack. However, authorities have not confirmed whether anything was taken from the office.
Sheriff Mike Chapman stated, "It is rare to have the office of any political campaign or party broken into."
"We are determined to identify the suspect, investigate why it happened, and determine what may have been taken, as well as what may have been left behind," Chapman added.
The campaign office also serves as the headquarters of the Virginia 10th District Republican Committee.
Neither the Trump campaign nor the committee responded to a request for comment from the Associated Press.
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The reported break-in comes just one day after the campaign confirmed that an Iranian group hacked its internal communications in June, Blaze News previously reported. As part of the breach, hackers released a 271-page document that listed publicly available information about vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio). The document noted Vance's previous criticisms of Trump, which were labeled as "potential vulnerabilities." Hackers also leaked part of a similar report regarding research on Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who was one of Trump's top potential running-mate picks.
Microsoft released a report Friday that claimed an "Iranian group, this one connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign." However, the report did not identify the targeted presidential campaign.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico, "These documents were obtained illegally from foreign sources hostile to the United States, intended to interfere with the 2024 election and sow chaos throughout our Democratic process."
"The Iranians know that President Trump will stop their reign of terror just like he did in his first four years in the White House," Cheung added. "Any media or news outlet reprinting documents or internal communications are doing the bidding of America's enemies and doing exactly what they want."
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A pro-Hamas organization posted videos on social media on Wednesday claiming the group released maggots, mealworms, and crickets throughout the hotel where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his delegation are staying during their visit to Washington, D.C., this week.
One of the videos posted by the Palestinian Youth Movement showed grubs and insects crawling across a table in what appeared to be a meeting room inside the Watergate Hotel. Other videos captured crickets hopping around the floor in several areas of the hotel.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, which describes itself as a "transnational, independent, grassroots movement," wrote on social media, "BON APPETIT!! MAGGOTS RELEASED ON THE CRIMINAL ZIONIST'S WAR TABLE!"
"Palestine protestors manufactured chaos at the Watergate Hotel last night so that Netanyahu, Israeli Mossad agents, and the Secret Service had no peace as they continue to terrorize our people," the group added.
The Watergate Hotel confirmed the incident in a comment to the New York Post, calling the situation "unfortunate."
"Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our guests and staff. We took the necessary steps to ensure the property has been sanitized and is now operating as normal," the hotel told the news outlet. "We are cooperating fully with authorities, who are handling the situation. As this is an open case, we are unable to provide any further details at this time."
The protesters also admitted to pulling the hotel's fire alarm the evening before the prime minister's scheduled address before Congress. The group claimed the disruptions were meant "to ensure that there will be no rest before Netanyahu and Congress disgraces themselves in front of the world."
The intrusion brought into question the security measures around Capitol Hill during Netanyahu's visit, particularly after the Secret Service's admitted failure in response to the Donald Trump assassination attempt. This week's incident is not the first time unruly protesters have infiltrated hotels in an effort to disrupt the sleep of those temporarily residing at the property. Blaze News' senior politics editor and D.C. correspondent Christopher Bedford stated that activists pulled the fire alarm in the late hours of the evening at the hotel where John McCain's family was staying ahead of his memorial service in 2018.
A law enforcement source told the Post that the meeting room shown in the protesters' video was "not part of our agreed upon security plan with the Israeli security services and our local partners."
A Secret Service spokesperson stated that there was no threat to the Israeli delegation at any time as a result of the group's intrusion.
"The Watergate facility has an expansive footprint and remains open for businesses, residences and guests," the spokesperson told the Post.
A D.C. Fire and EMS spokesperson stated that the department had placed fire inspectors at the hotel at the Secret Service's request, the Washington Post reported. Following the triggered fire alarm, officials "determined there was no fire emergency and any fire department response was cancelled," the spokesperson told the news outlet.
Palestinian Youth Movement also stationed protesters outside the hotel to hold noise demonstrations each morning and evening to ensure the prime minister "will enjoy no rest while he is here."
"All of D.C. from organizations to individuals reject the stay of a war criminal in our city," an organizer with the group's DMV chapter told the Washington Post.
"It reflects a tremendous security failure on their part," the organizer stated about law enforcement. "The city of D.C. and the United States government has stolen tens of millions of dollars to roll out the red carpet for a war criminal and even then, they can't stop something as simple as maggots being dropped ... at the Watergate Hotel."
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In response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled speech before Congress on Wednesday, at least several hundred pro-Hamas activists, many carrying Palestinian flags, gathered around Capitol Hill to protest his address.
Blaze News' Julio Rosas captured videos of the anti-Israel protesters shouting, chasing, and shoving police officers stationed around the Capitol building and Union Station.
'Absolute chaos.'
Video from the demonstration showed some individuals in the mob attempting to pull police officers off of restrained and handcuffed agitators.
"Let them go! Let them go!" the crowd chanted at cops.
U.S. Park Police removed and secured an American flag at Union Station and withdrew from the chaos, Blaze News captured on video. Protesters followed the group of officers, shouting instructions to one another to grab the flag from officers.
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American flags posted outside of Union Station were removed by activists and replaced with Palestinian flags. A statue was defaced by protesters who wrote, "Hamas is coming."
Other photographs and videos showed demonstrators burning American and Israeli flags.
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Metropolitan Police officers deployed pepper spray outside of the Capitol building to break up the melee.
Rosas described the scene as "absolute chaos," writing in a post on X, "The mob continued to chase police officers to try to free protesters who had been arrested at Union Station. Pepper spray was eventually used to push the crowd back."
Rosas reported that law enforcement has detained some of the protesters.
Meanwhile, approximately half of the House and Senate Democrats refused to attend Netanyahu's address before Congress, choosing instead to align themselves with the activists. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and former House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) were among those who boycotted the prime minister's address.
In the chamber, Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) held up a sign reading "Guilty of genocide."
"I will never back down in speaking truth to power," Tlaib stated. "The apartheid government of Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Palestinians will not be erased. Solidarity with all those outside of these walls in the streets protesting and exercising their right to dissent."
Ocasio-Cortez called Netanyahu "a war criminal."
Vice President Kamala Harris (D) also did not attend Netanyahu's speech, citing a previously scheduled event. President Joe Biden and Harris will reportedly hold separate meetings with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday. Donald Trump is slated to sit down with Netanyahu on Friday.
Neither Biden nor Harris showed up to greet Netanyahu and his wife when they arrived in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
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Deputy U.S. Marshals assigned to the security detail of Justice Sonia Sotomayor fired their service weapons last week after an armed carjacking suspect apparently threatened one of their lives.
In the wee hours of the morning last Friday, at least two deputy U.S. Marshals were sitting in separate unmarked vehicles outside Sotomayor's residence in the Beauregard Condominiums complex located in Washington, D.C., as part of their security responsibilities.
Suddenly, just after 1:15 a.m., a silver minivan pulled up nearby, and a male suspect hopped out of the vehicle. The suspect drew a gun, aimed it at a security officer identified only as "Deputy US Marshal Black," and demanded that Black hand over his car, the Daily Mail reported.
'In most US cities, juveniles spend the summer hanging out with their friends, working summer jobs, visiting family members. In DC, juveniles carjack.'
A statement from the D.C. Metro Police Department indicated that Black then "drew his service weapon and fired several shots at the suspect," and at least one of those shots struck the suspect in the mouth, the Daily Mail said.
By that time, a second deputy Marshal had exited his vehicle "and fired his service weapon," though whether any of his shots struck the suspect is unclear. Afterward, Black rendered first aid to the suspect, later identified as 18-year-old Kentrell Flowers of Washington, D.C.
Flowers was then transported to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but his apparent accomplice did not stick around to assess Flowers' condition. Shortly after the Marshals fired their weapons, "The silver van fled the scene travelling northbound on 11th Street Northwest," said a statement of facts filed in D.C. district court by Deputy U.S. Marshal Tyler Wells.
A vehicle matching the van's description was later found, but no other suspect has yet been identified. The weapon allegedly used in the commission of the crime, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson, was recovered at the scene. No Marshals were injured in the incident.
Flowers has been charged with armed carjacking, carrying a pistol without a license, and possession of a large capacity ammunition-feeding device. The case remains under investigation.
The Daily Mail noted that Metro PD issued a statement about the Marshal-involved shooting within hours of the incident, but that initial announcement made no mention of the connection with Justice Sotomayor. According to the outlet, Sotomayor's D.C. residence is a two-bedroom, two-bath condo currently valued at over $860,000.
In 2013, Sotomayor likened the area to New York's East Village. "It has a touch of the East Village in it," she told the New York Times. "I picked it because it's mixed. I walk out and I see all kinds of people, which is the environment I grew up in and the environment I love."
Blaze News reached out to the public information officer of the U.S. Supreme Court for comment but did not receive a response.
K. Denise Rucker Krepp, a former elected D.C. official who once worked in the Obama administration, is outraged that violence perpetrated by young people continues to proliferate in her area.
"Washington DC, the District of Crime, has a juvenile carjacking problem," she told Blaze News in a statement. "In most U.S. cities, juveniles spend the summer hanging out with their friends, working summer jobs, visiting family members. In DC, juveniles carjack. As was demonstrated last Friday, no one is safe from juvenile carjacking in the nation's capital."
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CNN declined to go on the record about why the outlet apparently dismissed exculpatory evidence in its reporting against Stefan Passantino.
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