A concerted corporate media effort to “fear DC residents” over federal law enforcement activity was no match for White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s fact-checking.
Last week, President Donald Trump temporarily stepped in to do what local officials wouldn’t as he utilized executive authority to deploy the National Guard in Washington, D.C., as the federal government took operational control of the Metropolitan Police Department.
At the forefront of disapproval, one attempt from the media to fearmonger “creeping authoritarianism” was met with reality from the White House over why a so-called “moped driver” who left an officer with a concussion faced arrest.
Featuring a screenshot of Politico’s reporting, Leavitt posted to X Sunday, “@Politico Playbook today was written to fear DC residents into believing federal law enforcement randomly arrested an innocent ‘moped driver.'”
“If Politico had reached out to the White House for comment before publishing, we could have provided them with the facts: The ‘moped driver’ was an Illegal Alien Criminal from Venezuela with suspected gang affiliation and an active final order of removal from the country,” she went on. “Upon his arrest, the Illegal Alien Criminal resisted arrest and a law enforcement officer suffered a concussion as a result.”
.@Politico Playbook today was written to fear DC residents into believing federal law enforcement randomly arrested an innocent “moped driver.”
If Politico had reached out to the White House for comment before publishing, we could have provided them with the facts:
The “moped… pic.twitter.com/JeMksKnRNp
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) August 17, 2025
In the story that referred to the illegal alien as a “moped driver,” Politico wrote, “Yesterday morning, just off of 14th Street NW, a group of masked law enforcement officers arrested a moped driver.”
After highlighting onlookers recording the arrest while questioning the authority of the law enforcement officials, noting a reporter from the Washington Post was among the crowd, the story continued, “The officers never identified themselves, never provided their badge numbers, never revealed their agency. They took the moped driver into an unmarked SUV and spirited him off, destination unknown. A block away, the weekend brunch service at Le Diplomate continued without interruption.”
The Post reporter was Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, who was among those filming and questioning law enforcement, inquiring what agency they represented, as onlookers were heard shouting, “Stop! This is our city. Get out of our city.”
Additional coverage from the Post referred to the arrestee as a “food delivery driver” and alleged that officers were “beating him before sweeping him away in an unmarked vehicle.”
On 14th & R this morning in DC, officers with vests that said only police detained a man who seemed to have been riding a moped, taking him down as passerby screamed.
Officers refused to say what agency they’re with. Their unmarked cars had Maryland plates. @washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/EoLfInxl3o
— Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff (@DanRosZiff) August 16, 2025
Federal agents violently detained a food delivery driver as he emerged from a D.C. coffee shop Saturday morning.
The incident captured on video showed the officers throwing him to the ground and beating him before sweeping him away in an unmarked vehicle. https://t.co/1y9AAwffUi pic.twitter.com/XYbxJCu9PI
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 17, 2025
Politico went on to detail how Ohio, South Carolina and West Virginia had all agreed to send members of the National Guard to bolster those already mobilized in Washington, D.C., emphasizing per the Wall Street Journal that “they are preparing to start carrying weapons in the coming days, officials say, a major shift that comes days after President Trump said he was deploying them to ‘take back’ the capital from what he described as violent criminals.”
Further reporting from the Post referenced Leavitt’s statement as well as a statement from Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, who’d identified the illegal alien as Venezuelan national Enrique Carias Torres, ordered removed from the country in 2023 by an immigration judge after he illegally entered the U.S. earlier that year.
McLaughlin said he “repeatedly failed to appear for multiple court dates in Maryland related to a long list of traffic crimes” for which there were active warrants.
Notably, last month in New York City, two moped-riding illegal aliens allegedly ambushed and shot an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Officer, leading to new federal charges against the men who already had lengthy records with law enforcement from the past two years.
As to the coverage of the most recent arrest, social media had its own input, including accusations of “media malpractice. It’s a feature, not a bug of journalism in 2025.”
This is media malpractice.
It’s a feature, not a bug of journalism in 2025.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 17, 2025
Did you bother to find out what happened prior to that? Have you spoken to the victims of violent crimes in that city? And you’re going to question police tactics here without knowing what was happening? Journalism is not a serious profession anymore.
— Michael (@Kanaley) August 17, 2025
Video showed him resisting arrest *
Fixed it for you.
— Dreaming of Freedom (@libertyorfail) August 17, 2025
Or, in non Newspeak, .
— Killswitch Engineer (@d__el) August 17, 2025
Ban them from the press room for at least 2 weeks.
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) August 17, 2025
They don’t work on facts. They work on narrative
— Dont worry about it (@TattedIrishGuy) August 18, 2025
All these news outlets do is lie or tell half truths.
— Tony Johnston (@TJ111956) August 18, 2025
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
- ‘Hackiest hack’ Jim Acosta fears ‘partisan hacks’ will take over CNN as a result of merger - March 21, 2026
- USPS mail carrier in NYC suburb captured on video violently shoving 4-year-old Jewish boy - March 21, 2026
- Luxury brand facing scrutiny over failed Erika Kirk smear job by staffer who leaked purchase history - March 21, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.