We were reminded once again Tuesday night that parts of the nation’s capital are as dangerous as Kabul or Juarez or Baghdad. A minivan driven by a 14-year-old thug passed by a crowd of kids just back from a funeral of another kid. Someone in the van poked an assault weapon out of the van’s window and sprayed the crowd. He killed four and wounded more.
The scene of carnage on South Capital Street, hard by the Maryland line, was the worst the city had seen in about 16 years. Mothers wept. Men bemoaned the wayward younguns and the guns they so easily procure and use. Children lay stuffed animals on the grass where their friends had fallen.
Then the politicians started pointing fingers. It is inevitable — and regrettable.
Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Tuesday’s carnage might have been prevented if the U.S. Attorney’s Office had filed paperwork in court to get one of the alleged shooters off the street — a week before the drive-by killings. She said her detectives had asked federal prosecutors to file an arrest warrant for Orlando Carter in the killing of Jordan Howe on March 22. They declined. Carter, 20, is being held on Tuesday’s shooting charge.
The Washington Examiner‘s Bill Myers found out that Lanier even made her case personally last Friday to Ronald Machen, the new U.S. attorney. She met with him and asked him to move Carter’s case and a few others.
Then yesterday Mayor Adrian Fenty piled on. Just back from his vacation, and always eager to play to the crowd, Fenty told WTOP reporters: “I think they expected the United States Attorney’s Office . . . to do their important legal review, but also to really take at face value what the police department has said about evidence.”
And herein lies the problem. The police didn’t have the goods on Orlando Carter. Yes, he was implicated in the March 22 shooting. But cops did not have a positive identification. All they had was one witness who looked at a photo of Carter and said it “could have been him.”
But it could have been someone else, too. No judge will issue a warrant on coulda-shoulda.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office put out an official statement yesterday: “We can only approve arrest warrants when sufficient probable cause has been established for a particular offense after a thorough review of the evidence.”
Behind the scenes Ron Machen was steamed — for good reason. He just took office as the city’s top law enforcement official. He prosecutes cases brought by the Metropolitan Police Department, the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and all police forces in the capital. He also handles counterterrorism cases, cyber crime. You name it. The Senate confirmed him in February. He’s barely had time to hang pictures in his new office — and he gets blamed for four deaths.
That’s harsh — and unwarranted.
Let’s hope Machen is the forgiving type. If he starts pointing fingers, it could get ugly.
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
