Just hours after Democratic Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig was assaulted in her Washington, D.C., apartment, she and 31 Democrats voted in favor of a resolution to block the Washington, D.C., Council’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022, which would have lowered penalties for a number of violent offenses.
“This morning around 7:15 a.m., Rep. Craig was assaulted in the elevator of her apartment building in Washington, DC. Rep. Craig defended herself from the attacker and suffered bruising, but is otherwise physically okay,” her office said in a statement just after the 250-173 vote that passed the House. “Rep. Craig called 9-1-1 and the assailant fled the scene of the assault. There is no evidence that the incident was politically motivated.”
Congress can exercise authority over D.C. local affairs, according to the District Clause of the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17), and Congress must review all D.C. legislation before it can become law. Congress can change or even overturn D.C. legislation and can impose new laws on the district.
Rep. Angie Craig (D-MN) speaks at a press conference on the reintroduction of the bill “Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act” outside the U.S. Capitol Building on February 02, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
In November 2022, the D.C. Council approved the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA). The RCCA reduces penalties for certain violent criminal offenses, including carjackings, robberies, and homicides. Democratic Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser vetoed the bill on Jan. 4. The council then overrode Bowser’s veto on Jan. 17 by a vote of 12-1.
Craig and 31 Democrats in Congress joined Republicans to block the RCCA on Thursday. (RELATED: Democratic Rep Assaulted In Her Washington DC Apartment)
D.C. police arrested Kendrick Hamlin, also known as Hamlin Khalil Hamlin for allegedly assaulting Craig, they announced Thursday evening. (RELATED: House Passes Legislation To Block DC’s New Crime Law)
Craig has opposed defunding the police in the past. In 2021, Craig opposed a Minneapolis ballot initiative that would have replaced the city’s police department with a new Department of Public Safety.
The Daily Caller contacted Craig’s office about her vote and the assault, to which they said: “The events of yesterday morning did not influence Rep. Craig’s vote – she had already decided to vote in favor of the resolution before the incident.”