A Democrat lawmaker who was carjacked revealed that when she looked down the barrel she could only think about Congress’ failures to address gun reform and how closing ‘loopholes’ and funding the ATF could have prevented her robbing.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Penn., represents south Philadelphia where the House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing Friday on crime in the city.
‘Two and a half years ago, I was carjacked at gunpoint by three teenagers using a gun they brought from out of state,’ Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Penn., said at the hearing.
‘Obviously, it was scary to have a gun pointed at my chest,’ Scanlon said.
‘But as I looked down the barrel of that gun my mind raced thinking about all the ways Congress could have prevented that encounter.’
Scanlon was robbed of her car at gunpoint in FDR Park (pictured) following a meeting there. She was walking to her parked vehicle when she two men driving a dark-colored SUV approached her, demanded her keys and fled in her 2017 Acura MDX
Scanlon’s car was located later on Wednesday night at the Christiana Mall, in Delaware. Police arrested five suspects inside the car
Scanlon was the victim of a high-profile 2021 carjacking by two teenagers that forced her to hand over her purse and keys, stranding her and a staffer.
‘Closing loopholes to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, including kids,’ is one of the policies she floated Friday that could prevent carjackings.
‘Giving ATF the funding that it needs to enforce gun trafficking laws,’ was another idea.
She also said ‘addressing the poverty trauma and social conditions that led to those kids picking up a gun in the first place,’ could have helped too.
The Friday hearing was titled ‘Victims of Violent Crime in Philadelphia’ and brought together witnesses to testify about the city District Attorney Larry Krasner’s ‘pro-criminal policies embolden criminals at the expense of victims and Philadelphia residents.’
Democrats, like Scanlon, called the hearing a sham and likened it to a ‘traveling circus.’
Republicans, however, have taken aim at policing in the city, saying crime has gone up as a result of defunded law enforcement and lax prosecution by local law officials.
Josiah Brown, who was sentenced to seven years for carjacking Scanlon, was on probation at the time of his arrest for armed robbery.
Previously, he had been arrested for a string of vehicle break-ins and had prior convictions for resisting arrest, disregarding a police officer and robbing a 7-Eleven.
Brown also admitted to carjacking another man outside of a Philadelphia convenience store.
Four other minors were also arrested in the case.
They were charged with receiving stolen property in a Delaware juvenile court.
The hearing featured testimony from Pauline and Joel Fitzgerald, the parents of Christopher Fitzgerald, a local cop who was shot and killed in the city last year.
Other family members of fallen law enforcement officers also testified, slamming DA Krasner.
Local criminals ‘know that Krasner gives them a free pass,’ Joel Fitzgerald testified.
‘It’s far from ok in the city,’ he added. ‘When the rule of law is not enforced, you have anarchy.’
