The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released an interim report earlier this week on its investigation into the MPD. The report claimed that department leadership pressured and instructed commanders to downgrade crime classifications to lesser offenses, including those not included in the daily crime report available to the public. Smith was accused of propagating a “culture of fear, intimidation, threats, and retaliation.”
[snip]
During the ceremony, Smith denied the allegations against her, insisting that she “never will and never would have encouraged, intimidated, retaliated, or told anyone to change their numbers.”
“I hope you can understand this from a spiritual context because the theme of what has resonated in this place is one thing, and that’s God,” Smith said.
[snip]
Smith was taking on a preacher-like persona by this point, and she raised her gravelly toned voice and offered dramatic pauses as she listed to the crowd all the church-related activities she took part in over the years before declaring “there’s enough Jesus in me that’s gonna get me to heaven if I die tomorrow!”
Then she dropped an F bomb — kinda.
[snip]
“I forgive you,” she said soon after. “I forgive you because the Bible makes it very clear. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, when he said to us, ‘Father’ — even in the pit of agony and defeat, he said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ God bless you, and God keep you.”
Smith also called for an investigation into those who accused her of directing police staff to manipulate crime statistics.
Her departing speech was likened to a screaming meltdown.
[snip]
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized D.C.’s Democratic leadership for the district’s crime wave. He previously threatened a potential federal takeover if leadership failed to address the crisis successfully — and Trump did just that when he federalized D.C. police in August.
Former Police Commander Michael Pulliam was suspended in July after he was accused of participating in the alleged data manipulation.
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* Original Article:
https://www.theblaze.com/news/f-you-departing-dc-police-chief-invokes-bible-in-performative-preacher-like-rebuke-to-critics-amid-crime-stat-scandal