A business owner in Washington, D.C., filed paperwork Tuesday to the D.C. Board of Elections in an effort to recall Ward 1 Democratic Councilwoman Brianne Nadeau in response to last year’s unprecedented surge in violent crime.

Diana Alvarez, who is spearheading the recall effort against Nadeau, said her Lit City Smoke Shop in Columbia Heights, which resides in Ward 1, has experienced three “violent” robberies amid the city’s skyrocketing crime rate. Crime in Washington, D.C., is up 39% and homicides in Ward 1, which Nadeau has overseen since 2015, have doubled since 2023, according to Crime Data DC.