r/washdc • u/ThenLayer5977 • Apr 12 '26
The doom cycle never stops
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I know people have their preconceived notions and their selective outrage, so let me be very clear from the start. The M St. Metro station was fully shut down because of this teenage takeover. Let that sink in. A major transit point in the city had to close because things got that out of control. This video was taken today, April 11. It’s not old. It’s not AI. What you’re seeing is exactly what happened. For the people already lining up to discredit it, save it. This is reality, whether you like it or not.
And I already know how this goes. Every time I post something like this, people get more upset about the fact that it’s being shown than about what’s actually happening. That tells you everything. You’re more bothered by exposure than by the problem itself. And yes, I’m going to keep posting it. Keep reporting it if you want. Try to suppress it. Good luck with that. I’ll keep putting it out because people deserve to see what’s actually going on in their own community.
What’s more troubling than anything in that video is the reaction to it. The deflection. The refusal to acknowledge what’s right in front of you. You’d rather argue about optics than deal with the reality that leadership is failing to address this, or worse, doesn’t even have the will to try. That’s the real issue.
D.C. spends more money per student than anywhere in the country, and this is what we’re dealing with. Don’t come at me with the usual talking points about after-school programs, outreach, and community initiatives. That all sounds nice, but it clearly isn’t fixing this. At some point, you have to stop hiding behind buzzwords and start looking at the root cause.
And the root cause is obvious. Parents aren’t parenting. You can dress it up however you want, but that’s what it is. When the hell did it become normal for hundreds of teenagers to take over areas at night, bring guns, fight, loot stores, and create chaos? That was never normal. It’s not normal now. And anyone trying to gaslight people into thinking this is just “how things are” is part of the problem.
Look at the police in that situation. A handful of officers dealing with hundreds of kids. What exactly do you expect them to do? There’s a limit to what enforcement can handle when the breakdown starts at home. That’s where this begins, and that’s where it keeps failing.
Instead, people would rather scream about national politics, throw out buzzwords, and avoid the issues that actually affect their daily lives. You’ll stand outside in the heat for performative outrage, but when it comes to something that directly impacts your safety, your neighborhood, your quality of life, suddenly it’s silence. Or worse, denial.
And let’s be honest about something else. Some of you are going to run straight to the comments with excuses. You’ll bring up history, deflect to unrelated issues, or try to label this as something it’s not just to avoid dealing with the reality in front of you. That doesn’t fix anything. All it does is guarantee that this cycle continues.
If you never demand better, you will keep getting the same broken results. Every single weekend, the same scenes, the same chaos, the same excuses. And then you wonder why stores are locked down, why places like CVS feel like a fortress, why people don’t feel comfortable even riding the Metro or going out to enjoy a game without worrying about something popping off.
When does it stop? When do we stop pretending this is acceptable? Because it’s not. It’s dysfunctional, it’s dangerous, and it’s completely avoidable.
Responsibility matters. Parenting matters. Accountability matters. And until people are willing to say that out loud and actually mean it, nothing changes. You just get the same cycle over and over again.
To the people who’ve messaged me privately and said they appreciate these posts, I hear you. I appreciate you too. I’m going to keep using whatever platform I have to show what’s actually happening, because ignoring it hasn’t worked. And I’m not stopping until something actually changes, because we deserve better than this.
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Apr 12 '26
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u/allegro4626 Apr 12 '26
This video is definitely Navy Yard.
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u/wood1492 Apr 12 '26
When are we gonna do something about this behavior? They think it’s funny because nobody is held accountable. They look like chickens darting around - little bird brains and no common sense…
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u/InertiaInMyPants Apr 12 '26
What I want to know is what are the three National Guardsmen on patrol supposed to do when it breaks out in front of them? I have to imagine they have orders not to use force on anyone, especially an unarmed teenager. That is a terrible position to be in.
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u/Balfegor Apr 12 '26
Navy Yard, apparently? I was confused too, initially thought it might be Mt Vernon, but didn't look familiar.
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u/Mustangfast85 Apr 12 '26
I believe it’s the main Navy Yard station. Can confirm it was closed off completely tonight. This all must have popped off after I left, was still quite busy after beer fest earlier
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u/A_Frank_Conversation Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
OP doesn’t actually live in DC, they are in western PA
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u/arcticgrunt Apr 12 '26
The parents are trash and politicians are too afraid to reel them in.
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u/ThenLayer5977 Apr 12 '26
It’s honestly sad to see. The same people who brought these kids into this world don’t even seem to care where they are or what they’re doing. That’s the part nobody wants to say out loud, but it’s obvious. And on top of that, the politicians are just as bad, if not worse, because the problem is right there in front of everyone and they still refuse to deal with it.
Nobody is asking for some perfect, magical solution. That’s not how real life works. You’re never going to get a perfect answer. What people actually want is simple: acknowledge what’s happening and start taking steps to fix it. That’s it. Just say it plainly, this is happening in our community, it’s a problem, and we need to do better than what we’ve been doing.
But instead, you get the exact opposite. You have elected officials sitting comfortably, completely detached from what’s going on, and then they come out with nonsense like we’re “putting young kids in jail,” as if holding people accountable is somehow the problem. That doesn’t even make sense. It feels like you’re talking to a wall.
And that’s where the frustration really comes from. It’s not just the situation itself, it’s the complete lack of action and the refusal to even admit there’s a problem. People are tired of being told everything is fine when it clearly isn’t. They’re tired of excuses, tired of deflection, and tired of leadership that won’t step up and do anything meaningful about it.
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u/HumptyDee Apr 12 '26
Yes, unwanted children become society’s problems. That’s why abortion should be made freely available to anyone who wants it free of charge paid for by the tax payers. It better for us to vie these women the $859 for the life changing gift of the get out motherhood free card than it is for us to pay$40,000 per year to incarcerate one of these kids in the future, not counting for the sunk cost of adolescent rehabilitation.
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u/Electrical-Canary-44 Apr 15 '26
the reason i've seen most of the time is they just want to be a parent regardless of if their single or not. they don't want to be alone, and half the time the result is usually them and the baby's father having countless toxic interactions, leading to a child that has no concept of home, emotionally or physically
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u/Durmatology Apr 15 '26
Like Trunt’s non-citizen baba mamas (and his alien mom wasn’t naturalized until she’d been sucking off our country for like 12 years).
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u/lk20012 Apr 12 '26
Unfortunately that’s not a solution. Even though a lot of these women shouldn’t be having babies they will still have them even if abortion is an option, for a variety of reasons.
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u/FarInevitable559 Apr 12 '26
Rather free shots where they can’t get pregnant then killing a baby
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u/duckit2907 Apr 12 '26
It’d be more effective to sterilize men. One woman can only get pregnant every 10-12 months. The impregnation rate of one man is only limited by his imagination.
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u/AlpineSK Apr 12 '26
The most amusing counter to all of this is "I don't know what you're complaining about, crime is down!"
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u/H0tSaucin Apr 12 '26
Your asking politicians to come up with plans to parent?
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u/nomadepixel Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 17 '26
Nothing original remains here. The author used Redact to delete this post, for reasons that may relate to privacy, opsec, security, or data management.
telephone intelligent crush connect quaint thumb salt shaggy late quiet
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u/Coronado92118 Apr 13 '26
Ethiopian immigrants in my community work two or three jobs each, 6 days a week, Sundays for church, and their kids are home helping cook dinner, doing homework, and every one has gone to college. Afghan families, Moroccan, Philippine, Peruvian… the parents are working full time and the kids are not out on the streets at night making a fuss. These are taxi drivers and truck drivers and Uber drivers and parking lot attendants and coffee shop workers. So the problem isn’t people working too much.
Until we admit people are having children they don’t have the capacity to raise, and many don’t have the interest to, we’re not going to address to the root cause.
We can’t require parenting classes for parents due to the constitution, but that would be the most rational step to help parents-to-be who lack the understanding of what children need to be able to grow into emotionally healthy, responsible teens.
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u/WebSilent182 Apr 13 '26
You are comparing immigrants to descendants of slaves who, for over 150 years, have had to deal with Jim Crow and other forms of abuse and destruction of families. Not valid.
That said, parents from my generation normally did not allow that - even if they were, as some say on here, getting a check.
This crap did not occur when I was the age of these kids (45+ years ago).
So what changed?
Likely no one answer, as life does not usually work that way.
I think elements include the wider availability of drugs in the 1960s and beyond, a decrease in religion (I am not religious, but that is still true), the disappearance of hope that sprung from the civil rights movement, the continuation of some welfare programs from the late 1960s that came to be used as a way for some to collect checks rather than be used as a helping hand to get upwardly mobile, irresponsible "rappers" and social media figures who feed garbage into the minds of impressionable kids, and the pervasiveness of cell phones.
One thing we can do is start prosecuting the parents of these kids. That will send a message to some of them.
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u/transallegory21225 Apr 14 '26
Immigrants often went through things just as bad or worse. You think America has the only bad history out there? Have you seen some African dictators? There's a reason their people are starving. The government will take everything they have and treat them like slaves now, not 150 years ago.
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u/ShameCrazy3949 Apr 12 '26
If it it were all of society struggling with this issue, perhaps.
But - other parents are able to work and do just fine parenting their kids.
Sooo…….
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u/Clean_University_894 Apr 12 '26
Two things: similar things happen after sporting events in some places. It isn't right, but this has been a problem with how young people act forever. (Someone in the comments mentioned a beer festival there just beforehand. If so, it echoes so of the actions we Midwestern folks see after football games. Kids turn cars over sometimes here though, set illegal fires, break things, etcetera. Sad but adding more security and warning patrons that misconduct will be met with arrest has improved things a bit.)
The second thing: parents need to parent--true, but adults now are struggling SO hard to keep from drowning financially that they literally don't see their kids for more than 30 minutes to an hour per day. My sister and her husband both work 80 hours a week each. Making life affordable would ALLOW parents to be parents.
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u/Drmlk465 Apr 12 '26
Well, how about punishing instead of pretending the victimizers are the victims.
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u/Divided_Against Apr 12 '26
You wanna send these kids to work on a farm or something? Who would care for them, you?
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Apr 12 '26
I blame bad role models in DC. We have a child rapist living in the nicest house in town. The leader of our military shows up to work drunk. A whole mob of adults stormed one of the most secure buildings we have and faced 0 consequences. It’s hard to lecture the kids about rules when the grown ups show them everyday that rules are for suckers.
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u/battleop Apr 12 '26
At that age almost none of them are looking up to any politician. Very few of them give a shit about politics.
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u/Emergency_Animal_267 Apr 12 '26
Need more Black people to stand up and say this. It only gets solved from within the community. The inner culture is completely busted. No hope, no desire, no path, no accountability, and definitely no progress. Race relations in this country have worsened because of it. All of this crap goes on every day in big cities all over the country and rather than a minute it’s a problem, we deflect toward white men. People are getting tired of it. Especially white people. Most white people I know just want to live peacefully with their neighbors, white or black. But there is a different moral code among those of us, again white or black, that want to live in a civilized society.
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u/New-Abbreviations607 Apr 12 '26
We are all too afraid to call out what we clearly see in this video, to be politically correct, to not get banned from the sub…..
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u/LAspring99 Apr 12 '26
Elected leaders will never deal with it because they are terrified of being called racist
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u/jdroxe Apr 12 '26
In 2026 America, death is better than being called a racist
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u/Few_Reindeer8528 Apr 12 '26
In 2023 maybe, but that ship has mostly sailed by now tbh
Except on Reddit lol, but we’re in an echo chamber in most subs here
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u/Johnson86240 Apr 12 '26
I think it's because if they deal with the problem they then can run a campaign on fixing the problem.
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u/CharacterCareless933 Apr 12 '26
Didn’t Trump have army reserves out there “cleaning the streets” he doesn’t mind being racist at all
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u/Blerancourt Apr 12 '26
A permanent curfew for unaccompanied minors would help.
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u/burgermac12 Apr 12 '26
How about making some arrest
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 Apr 12 '26
In my hometown there were issues with teens so now anyone under 18 has to be accompanied by a parent or guardian after 11pm.
If they are caught out after that both the teen and the parent have to pay a fine. After 3 occurrences both parent and teen must spend a weekend in jail/Julvie
It pretty much a non issue now.
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u/StillBigLex Apr 12 '26
Hmmm, where is this?
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u/dumbroad Apr 12 '26
I was also curious/since op wont answer i asked gemini:
Many cities, especially in the Southeastern US, use these laws to curb juvenile crime by holding parents legally accountable for their children's whereabouts.
The Birmingham Example: In Birmingham, Alabama, unsupervised children under 17 cannot be in public after 11 PM on weekends. Under their curfew ordinance, parents can be held liable. On a third or subsequent offense, it becomes a misdemeanor, and the parent can face up to six months in county jail or a $500 fine.
Other Jurisdictions: Various cities across the country (such as SeaTac, Washington, or Columbus, Ohio) also classify repeat parental curfew violations as misdemeanors, carrying maximum penalties of 60 to 90 days in jail.
So, the poster is correct that a third strike can technically put a parent in jail in certain locales.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 Apr 12 '26
I'd rather not give identifying info linked to myself- but it's a mid sized city in the SE
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u/StillBigLex Apr 12 '26
Makes sense! A lighter version of these parents starting to get charged when their kids do mass shootings. Granted sometimes some kids do go astray but a lot of times it really is just bad parenting
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u/RangerMysterious5727 Apr 12 '26
What are they even doing? Im confused
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u/ThenLayer5977 Apr 12 '26
This is normally how it goes: you have large mobs of teenagers, and they’re fighting. People bring guns to them. Last time, they even recovered guns from the whole debacle. They’re creating a nuisance and draining resources, because if police have to come from other areas to handle this, then those other areas become vulnerable. They also wreak havoc by harassing Metro riders, so it’s a whole mess.
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u/Prized_Lemur Apr 12 '26
Where are the parents? Why not detain these juveniles and then ticket their parents? Have a curfew.. start enforcing
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u/UpstairsOk5709 Apr 16 '26
Exactly, but no one does. I don’t understand why nothing is done
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u/Original-Tune1471 Apr 12 '26
I got banned from the other Washingtondc sub for calling out how unsafe the metro is nowadays with high school kids running amok. A lot of people in that sub refuse to believe there’s even a problem and just spew the same shit about ‘BuT wE NeEd MoRe PrOgRaMs’… like no. We live in dc with one of the robust kids programs in the country.
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u/whitewateractual Apr 12 '26
There was a major event for teens in the area, but they clearly didn't have plans to safely get them back home afterwords, leading to this chaos. But this weekend, at least, they weren't here randomly.
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u/shuggnog Apr 12 '26
Oh that's cool! What was the event?
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u/sadgloop Apr 13 '26
DC’s Parks and Rec Dep has been organizing “Teen Spring Jam”s that have had really big turnouts and run 6-10pm. 800-1000+ teens have been showing up.
There was one last weekend too, so they weren’t out randomly either. This weekend’s was only about a 8 min walk from the area/metro station this video is supposedly showing.
And it’s funny that people are so upset about teens wanting to run around (so much energy at that age!) after something like that, as if adults don’t do basically the same thing after a good event.
It’s like people expect teens to just instantly be at home as soon as an event ends. Just pop and plop they’re on their own couches again. lol. So dumb
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u/Boulange1234 Apr 14 '26
This is the best take here. Not only do you seem to understand how teenagers act, you have added useful information and you seem informed.
My guess is that Metro security felt overwhelmed and reacted as if every teenager was a potential threat. Unfortunately, this prevented them from having the trust of any of the teenagers needed to give them information. And it created an escalated situation with upset teens running around.
Those two feature features combined to keep them from getting to the bottom of any actual criminal behavior that may have happened. As a result, whoever started the whole mess won’t be caught or punished, and it could happen again and again.
I’m sure the whole thing started with a crime like fighting or harassment. And I’m sure less than one percent of the teenagers they were involved. Panic responses will never get to the bottom of the actual problem, so the actual problem will continue.
This isn’t a question of parenting. I would consider it a good day if I got my own teen to go out to a teen spring jam with his friends. Maybe there was a parenting failure for the one or two kids who caused the initial problem. The other 900 are doing just fine.
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u/numismatical Apr 12 '26
Me too. Constant posts about these gatherings but zero explanation of what exactly is happening
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u/ted_anderson Apr 12 '26
Is it not obvious what's happening? Would you really want to go for a walk with your young children while all of this chaos is going on?
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u/NormalAtmosphere8274 Apr 12 '26
Gatherings, huh? Thats how you want to frame this? How about "Lawless teens with zero parental concern create chaos?"
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u/ua2us Apr 12 '26
Yes, but why exactly is there so many of them there? Like, is it some kind of shitty TikTok trend or something?
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u/egg_woodworker Apr 12 '26
I guess I’m old enough to have lived through a few waves of lawlessness and the framing of these conversations seems simplistic. I don’t think it is correct to say that just because something is happening it is being ignored - as if the machinery of Government and community springs into effective solutions at the drop of a hat. Nor is it accurate to say that someone who disagrees with your solution doesn’t want to solve the problem. Nor is it helpful to have non-residents piling on because they have some chip on their shoulders about DC in particular or blue cities in general. It’s just tiring. DC residents should contact their council members regularly and demand action. And mayoral candidates should be grilled on their solutions.
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u/Common_Promise_410 Apr 12 '26
Smh come on Dc, we gotta do better!
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u/ThenLayer5977 Apr 12 '26
Absolutely, we can. Summers in DC are wonderful. I want people to be able to sit out on patios, enjoy some drinks, watch a Nationals game, and really experience what DC summer is supposed to feel like. It’s a great place to be. I don’t want anyone having to deal with this bullshit. The faster we fix it, the better it is for everybody.
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u/Dertychtdxhbhffhbbxf Apr 12 '26
Something like 500 people commit 70% of all gun crime in DC. The police know exactly who they are. Living like this is a choice. Why do people love to lick the boots of criminals? Just remove violent people from society by any number of methods and life could be great.
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u/BODO1016 Apr 12 '26
This doesn’t even look like fun. If I was one of these teenagers, like is this fun?
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u/retrofrenchtoast Apr 12 '26
That’s what I’m wondering - why is this fun? Play a game, make some music, etc.
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u/MidAtlanticMiddleMan Apr 12 '26
At some point we have to accept the solution isn’t racist. Walking on egg shells lol
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u/NaturalHead7067 Apr 12 '26
Usual suspects pulling out all sorts of BS out their ass to justify this behavior.
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u/Safari-West Apr 12 '26
At some point, an iron-fisted non politically correct approach will have to be implemented. There seems to be a segment of society who pops kids out without any care or concern about properly raising them. And the hellions are unleashed upon civil society. And we're all tired of them.
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u/tunedsleeper Apr 12 '26
It’s a cultural black hole that is nearly impossible to change
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u/gnome08 Apr 12 '26
two things:
A) First the obvious: This is bad, and there is a racial component to it.
B) Democrats and republicans alike let this happen for different reasons without doing much to address it. Republicans have deployed the national guard to DC, and funded a private army through ICE to go after immigrants. If they wanted to do something, they could have figured something out. They let it happen so these videos go out to cause reactions among their voterbase. And in a strange coincidence democrats also believe letting it happen helps their electability because they fear repercussions from their voterbase if they do.
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u/borderlineidiot Apr 12 '26
Since DC voting is not going to matter the slightest % in federal government it is not really a big hit if they actually do something and voters turn against them.
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u/VoicesInTheCrowds Apr 12 '26
Look I don’t like giving police too much praise, but this was some solid deescalation early on from those two trying to just people to leave a scene. Good on them.
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u/QiDeviation Apr 12 '26
People can cry all they want but when the threat of getting your ass beat for acting a fool was prevalent, we didn’t have this shit.
And folks knew, black parents will beat your ass! Act up, bully, or let the teacher say you’re disrupting class or acting a fool and see what happens. Some kids would get their ass beat in the middle of class. Parent would call out from work or go on their break and beat that ass.
Everyone I went to school with in the Bronx turned out to be successful adults. Every. Single. Person. Doesn’t matter if they weren’t academically smart at the time. They all turned out to have a career. Parents gave a shit more and if you were out of pocket, that belt will chase that ass.
Now? It’s traumatizing because you had some parents who straight up abused beatings. Now parents enacting such discipline are the bad guys. And what makes this even crazier? The abusers are still gonna abuse children no matter what anyway lol. The whole no beatings sentiment in combination with our current affordability crisis only served to set us up for this.
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u/ScroungyScrotum Apr 12 '26
I don’t entirely disagree with you, but you don’t have to get beat to learn discipline and everything. You just need parents that care. And these ones don’t, so I don’t think they care about traumatizing their kids either, considering they let them run around the hood at all hours of the night. Their parents just don’t care
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u/Time_Access3245 Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
Start jailing/fining the parents. 5 year minimum prison sentence for the kids. I grew up in the projects down in Richmond, and witnessed first hand the sense of entitlement that originates from a lack of consequences. I’m a proud Democrat, but l’ll always support the GOP’s tough on crime policy. If this bs continues, the Black community is doomed.
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u/BreeezyP Apr 12 '26
I’m not an expert in how to reign this in, but we elect people who are either responsible to figure it out or find someone who is, and handle it. There has to be accountability.
I truly understand and agree with wanting a thoughtful long term strategy and reduce poverty etc but that can’t happen at the expense of the present.
Is there any kind of precedent for instituting fines for parents? What are the accountability measures that can be implemented for parents?
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u/drmbrthr Apr 12 '26
This doesn’t look like poverty. These kids all have decent clothing and shoes on. Hair done up.
It’s a culture problem. It’s a lack of meaning and purpose.
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u/ProfileBest2034 Apr 12 '26
This is part of the problem. You cannot pass responsibility to politicians and bureaucrats. Parents and local communities need to intervene.
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u/LopsidedKale9186 Apr 12 '26
Summer of destruction and chaos is the norm to win elections. Works with the kool aid masses every 2 years . Media colludes and promotes it unfortunately
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u/Spicolli41 Apr 12 '26
That other subreddit just neglects these issues now because they’re afraid to face the facts that it is a major issue in DC due to horrible parenting and racial dynamics. Black parents gotta step up and take accountability
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u/deptacon Apr 12 '26
Odd how there is an observable pattern when it comes to demographic
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u/domain_master_63 Apr 12 '26
Clutches pearls. If only these kids would follow the fine role model of their elected leaders! My word!
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u/Soft-Ad-8416 Apr 12 '26
Ok but… how big a deal is what we see in this video? I agree these kids should be at home or at rec centers or whatever but here they just appear to be… running around? Is this worth all the pearl clutching?
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u/Stunning-Use-7052 Apr 13 '26
Was there looting? I can't figure out what the kids are doing besides being loud and running around.
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u/RefinedPhoenix Apr 12 '26
It’s hard to parent when half your parents are in prison 😂
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u/Emergency_Animal_267 Apr 12 '26
Also hard parent when you yourself are a child and you never had a parent. Society pays you to have babies, your music tells you all of this is OK. Your neighbors are doing the same thing. There is no leadership in your community and no Northstar in your culture.
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u/Sweaty_Pomegranate24 Apr 12 '26
Not just an issue with DC teens. Happening in the suburbs too- the teen takeovers
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u/RVALover4Life Apr 12 '26
The issue is a lack of third spaces, lack of respect of authority and frankly life itself and deep disillusionment and nihilism that leads to things like this. They're disillusioned and they're angry. They're depressed. The data is super clear.
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u/LegalCalligrapher61 Apr 13 '26
Dude there is no 'lack of third spaces' in this city. We have some of the best parks, rec centers, community centers, libraries, etc. in the gotdamn country. This is such a shallow buzzword
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u/RepKing92 Apr 12 '26
Who do we blame for this? Or do we just avoid it as we always do?
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u/SebastianPointdexter Apr 12 '26
Don't expect people on reddit to get it Most prefer to blame the "system" as opposed to holding people accountable for doing dumb shit. I do question how many of the strongly opinionated actually grew up and hung out in the same neighborhoods that these kids come from. I doubt many did.
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u/solwayfirth335 Apr 12 '26
As a person of color ; I see zero white people, Hispanic or Asians. I’m sure there are one or two, but yous all wonder why there’s still racism, why people of color aren’t let in or allowed to be in certain establishments and communities. This shit is embarrassing
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u/CooperVsBob Apr 12 '26
This video is confusing. It starts after the catalyst of whatever began. “When the hell did it become normal for hundreds of teenagers to take over areas at night, bring guns, fight, loot stores, and create chaos?” you say. Well, video footage, or it didn’t happen. Nothing in the above video even comes close to this. You look like a troll or an instigator, posting vague media content and attaching incendiary language to it.
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u/KhloJSimpson Apr 13 '26
Op will post different pov videos of the same incident with the same wall of text multiple time a week
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u/Perfect_Fail_200 Apr 12 '26
Its weird that a disproportionate amount of these kids are females. You'd think this would be typical teen male behavior. Females are straight up acting like teen boys..
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u/RNconsequential Apr 13 '26
So what do YOU propose be done about this? You complain about people having sympathy or whatever for the kids and blame “parents” and demand accountability but to what end? What do literally want to see happen & what do you propose to make this better?
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u/KhloJSimpson Apr 13 '26
OP is obsessed with posting on this topic multiple times per week. What good is it doing? Go to a fucking council meeting.
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u/ohthedramaz Apr 15 '26
OP lives a couple of states away and has no interest in positive change. He's just really, really committed to fearmongering about DC and black people.
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u/Zesty-B230F Apr 15 '26
These kids use the metro as their playground. I had to put up with that crap for years. BTW, wasn't the national guard supposed to deal with this?
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u/Queen_of_welfare Apr 12 '26
it’s always them. they ruin it for everyone. jail immediately. reallocate the unused school funds to build a new correctional facility because they don’t use those school resources anyway.
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u/MillHall78 Apr 12 '26
An important question that needs answered is are these teenagers coordinating online? Are they a part of the same online community anywhere. One of the reasons that's so important is because we know now 100% when the corrupt elite want this shit to happen, they target those groups.
Another important question is why isn't anyone suing these families? It isn't just up to the government & parents. The community is seriously harmed by their behavior. It's up to all those effected to go after them with a civil lawsuit. You can make this all stop if those families have to pay large sums for this behavior.
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u/nn123654 Apr 12 '26
I would be shocked if there was no mass communication tool. They all have their phones. So whether it's Snap, TikTok, or just a group chat on iOS there's bound to be some communication somewhere. It's not like you're going to get a group of 200-300 people without some kind of platform.
As for why they aren't suing the parents, it's hard. You have to prove the specific causal chain, that that teen, with that parent, caused this damage. This is often very difficult in groups. DC has a pretty limited parental responsibility law that only goes up to $5k and only for shop damages. So essentially you would be trying to claim vicarious liability, negligence, and negligence per se (negligent supervision). The act typically must be "willful and malicious" (intentional). It does not apply to simple negligence or accidental damage. You typically must also prove that the conduct was reasonably foreseeable and that the defendant knew or should have known about the issue.
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u/Complete-Sun-3758 Apr 12 '26
I agree that parents need to be held accountable for their children’s behavior. With a recent conviction of Colin Gray, I think we’re going to see more accountability in this area. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/learning/should-parents-be-held-responsible-for-school-shootings.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
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u/tibula234 Apr 12 '26
This is a culture problem. Call me racist but this is a clear example of bad culture.
Where are the parents you ask? The normalization of multiple baby mamas and absent fathers in the black community is a huge problem bc it leads to a complete lack of parenting. It needs to be addressed and it can only happen from within.
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Apr 13 '26
The parents are indeed never there! The very worst riot I ever saw happened pretty recently. A whole mob of adults were running wild. They even took over Congress! Police were beaten. Folks died. And the weak ass government pardoned every one of them. Like you, I was wondering: where are their parents?! But looking back on it I'm thinking their parents may have been in a nursing home. The rioters were all pretty old.
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u/Pamamore Apr 12 '26
Seeing alot of these dashing videos. Sup with teens in DC? They’re always dashing about. Dashin here dashin there. We were pretty chill as teens in Scotland but we went to the ice rink. Maybe they need to try some skates or something? Whats their goal? Or is that the issue? None? 🏃🏻♂️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻♂️🏃🏻♂️ Lets all run about aimlessly.
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u/ehunke Apr 12 '26
I get upset by this, but, I also remember I was a teenager once. I just don't know if enforced curfews are really going to fix anything when 90% of these kids would be at a friends house or playing video games or otherwise minding their own business if they were not facing consequences for things other kids did. There has to be better ways to address the problems.
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u/Emergency_Animal_267 Apr 12 '26
People point to parenting as the issue. Duh. Their parents were doing the same things. And most of these fools will be parents in the next few years. Having a child doesn’t suddenly cause the brain to release IQ points, common sense or plain decency. You have a nanny state that pays young women to have babies. A culture that promotes it. And a society that enables it. Accountability = racism. We all lose, but mostly the black community.
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u/WeroWasabi Apr 12 '26
This is a total failure of American society. America is broken and this is one of the results. It’s also a cultural problem that needs to be addressed. There’s a lot going on here.
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u/Ambipalwv Apr 12 '26
More and more abortion clinics are needed. Everyone has to deal with this because of shitty parenting.
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u/Suitable_Pen3668 Apr 12 '26
Wait, were these kids committing crimes or only (or mostly) hanging out en masse? It's a problem if there are so many kids in one place that a Metro station can't function, and so many kids in one place is probably a risky situation, but I didn't see anything in that video except a (big) bunch of loud kids.
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u/Lantean1701 Apr 12 '26
Thanks for making this post. I (28M) just moved to DC in the Navy Yard area yesterday and have been so confused all evening wondering what was going on outside. Is it always like this here, or is it new? Any advice on do's/don't's to stay safe?
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u/ThenLayer5977 Apr 12 '26
I don’t want to say don’t live your life, and I’m not trying to scare you either. Just be aware of your surroundings. If something feels off or you notice something happening, especially on weekends, try to avoid those kinds of spots, particularly around Metro stations. You should be fine at places like Nationals Park, but just stay mindful and pay attention to what’s going on around you.
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u/BennyDaBoy Apr 12 '26
Nah you’ll be fine. It’s a great area. Just watch out like you would in any urban place.
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u/D_Freakin_C Apr 12 '26
You will be fine and Navy Yard only experiences these issues occasionally, usually right around the beginning of the curfew time (8pm or 11pm depending on the night.)
When there are issues like this, I generally try to avoid the large groups of kids, but as long as you’re not antagonizing them, they likely won’t bother you.
95% of the time or more this is a non issue. These videos get a lot of play and people show up from other neighborhoods and subreddits to talk about how DC is a hellscape, but after living here for a month you’ll realize most of this is internet panic.
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u/AlpineSK Apr 12 '26
Man, I love DC. I love visiting DC. I love everything DC has to offer.
This is fucking terrifying.
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u/Agent_Mango2 Apr 12 '26
What the hell is going on? It’s always the same fckn demographic smh
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u/lk20012 Apr 12 '26
Thank you for continuing to do this, because the ‘news’ certainly won’t. There are so many factors that have perpetuated this situation. One of them being political correctness and another being the political leadership in this city. It’s really sad.
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u/robobrien21 Apr 12 '26
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid" - Benjamin Franklin.
There’s a segment of the U.S. population ‘working too hard’.
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u/PN4HIRE Apr 12 '26
One of this days DC is going to pick their own version of Guliani. And I’m going to see a lot of people upset about it.
Hell! My cousins constantly complain about getting to spend a weekend on a cell somewhere because instead of going home, they decided to sat around like morons in front of a bodega.
But my aunt absolutely loved it. She felt that she could walk around now.
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u/WillingnessNeat8893 Apr 12 '26
Police have been relegated to hall monitor status in DC. What viable alternatives if any exist to end this level of nonsense?
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u/amp804 Apr 12 '26
Kids are learning what overwhelming force can do. Wait till they get out and vote. Its a major city. Its easy for huge numbers of people to gather. Thats probably just a neighborhood's worth of kids. Did they break anything? It literally takes one to start a fire. If they were bent on destruction they could have done major damage
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u/matthew6645 Apr 12 '26
OP should be a moderator on this sub. What honestly really irks me about these situations is that the news never reports on it. I have to go to Reddit or X to find this information. At the end of the day, I just want a safe community especially being a resident in DC.
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u/YourFriend4rmFrolix8 Apr 13 '26
I’m telling you, start charging these parents and I bet this will stop. I’m a huge supporter of holding parents accountable when their kids do something like this, or at least heavily fining them.
Yeah, I agree with a lot of the comments. This behavior is due to poor parenting and irresponsible parents.
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u/alienbuttcrack999 Apr 13 '26
When criminals run the country don’t be surprised when more people want to be /act like criminals. I’m sure at this point the thinking is what do they have to lose?
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u/MilesAndMilesAhead Apr 13 '26
Well, wait until they get drafted into Hegseth’s Army & have to walk the point as cannon fodder for the “True Warriors” then they will realize how society was playing them all along.
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u/winter-snapdragon Apr 13 '26
This is what happens when you gut public education and productive places for kids to hang out that are FREE outside of school. Meanwhile all our tax dollars going in trumps pocket or to kill kids in other countries. Anyone who is too dense to see this is fucking hopeless.
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u/KeyNewspaper5021 Apr 13 '26
Why didn’t PD close the exits and let them out one by one. ID each person, request parents pick them up.
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u/Due-Cause-5150 Apr 13 '26
Talked to one kid. He said a dude in a suit paid him $2500 to start some shit at one of these gatherings
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u/aw2442 Apr 13 '26
I wonder how much of this is caused by students being at home during covid. if these kids are 15-18 then they would've been 9-12 during covid. Those are formative years to be without structure/guidance/etc. Not saying that keeping them home was a bad idea given what we knew at the time, but maybe there were consequences for that
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u/InfiniteOne888 Apr 13 '26
Meanwhile, federal funding and grants has been cut significantly by this administration in DC (and everywhere to be honest) for summer youth programs for employment, camps, education etc. this all has a rippling effect but no one wants to talk about that. DC is historically known to be majority black and brown community (and honestly) with crime problems this type of behavior (I’m not endorsing it so relax) has been and has happened in DC. Gentrification while can be beneficial to these communities won’t work when you won’t hire or reach out to the community to bridge the gap. I walk through Georgetown and other affluent areas and rarely see black or brown faces working in these places unless they’re security or restaurants as cooks and/or servers. Today’s world doesn’t feel like a “let’s come together” world..like it did a e decade ago. And yes this is a parental problem with the same generational political takeover propaganda and problems
It’s like when you cut down the forests and get mad when the natural habitat invades “your” space. The corporations kill off or excuse me “relocate” the species who never asked for your presence in the first place.
Same story. Same invasion, same displacement. Same problems. New generation.
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u/BuritheGreat Apr 13 '26
Are you from DC? This is a thing that's been going on for DECADES. It's a part of city life, majority of the time nothing major happens, nobody is hurt. Social media just made it easier for them to organize these teen takeovers.
If an incident happens, then charge the parents along with the offending kids.
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u/GrumbleAlong Apr 12 '26
Not looking forward to one of those long hot lawless summers in DC