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Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard exploded into chaos on Halloween as hundreds of young people who had gathered to “celebrate” turned the night into a free-for-all, with fights breaking out and police racing to regain control. Law enforcement, joined by National Guard personnel and multiple federal agencies, moved in as the situation deteriorated and ultimately arrested five juveniles and teens on charges that ranged from weapon possession to resisting officers.
This predictable breakdown of order forced Mayor Muriel Bowser to declare an emergency youth curfew, reintroducing restricted hours and special curfew zones in high-risk areas like Navy Yard, Union Station, and U Street to try to restore public safety. The curfew order empowers Metropolitan Police to act earlier in the evening where large groups of juveniles gather — a reminder that when soft-on-crime policies are allowed to stand, officials are forced into reactive, blunt measures.
Make no mistake: this was not a one-off. City leaders let a temporary curfew lapse in October, and the result was an almost immediate uptick in disorderly youth behavior that culminated in Saturday’s scenes. If the District’s political class had been serious about protecting residents, common-sense curfews and firm juvenile accountability would have stayed in place instead of being tossed aside for political theater.
Hardworking residents deserve streets where families can walk and businesses can operate without fear of being overrun by roaming mobs of teenagers. Prosecutors should pursue meaningful consequences, parents must be held accountable for where their children are and what they’re doing, and city officials ought to stop playing politics with public safety — the National Guard and extra patrols are a necessary consequence of failed leadership, not a luxury.
