New Orleans DA sounds alarm on crime surge: 'This is a triage moment'
New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the 'unparalleled' violence plaguing city streets and how officials can counter the trend.
The George Soros-backed Orleans Parish, Louisiana, district attorney and his mother were carjacked Monday night in New Orleans by two suspects who allegedly pointed high-powered automatic rifles at them, according to reports.
FOX 8 in New Orleans reported that district attorney’s office spokesperson Keith Lampkin confirmed DA Jason Williams, and his mother were carjacked at gunpoint as he was helping her into a car.
"DA Williams and his mother were unharmed, and both thank the [New Orleans Police Department] for their hard work tonight and every night responding to crime victims," Lampkin told the station.
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Orleans Parish, Louisiana District Attorney Jason Williams was carjacked Monday night with his 78-year-old mother. (Orleans Parish District Attorney Website)
Police said two armed suspects approached Williams’ black Lincoln Navigator at about 10 p.m. on Race Street in the Lower Garden District.
After they took the SUV, the suspect could not go very far, Williams told the station, because he still had the key fob.
Police said the SUV was recovered in the uptown portion of New Orleans.
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Police vehicles on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. (Bryan Tarnowski/Bloomberg via Getty Images/File/Fox News)
On Tuesday, FOX 8 interviewed Williams at his office, and he said the two suspects did not appear to be juveniles.
Williams said the suspect had high-powered automatic weapons and took items from the SUV, including some of his mother’s belongings, though he would not go into specifics.
"I think it’s important to reiterate that my mother and I are just a small fraction of the number of people impacted by violence in this city," he said. "We have to collectively work on crime-prevention efforts, policing efforts and our prosecution efforts."
A New Orleans Police Department vehicle. (NOPD)
The same suspects were accused of carjacking a 22-year-old woman nearly 30 minutes after the DA was carjacked, less than a half-mile away, police said.
If and when arrests are made in connection to the incident, Williams told the station he plans to recuse himself, as will his office. Instead, the criminal division of Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office will take the case.
Earlier this year, Williams issued a dire warning against surging violence in his city and across the nation, as crime continued to ravage the city.
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Bourbon Street in New Orleans famed French Quarter neighborhood. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images/File/Fox News)
He joined America’s Newsroom and discussed how to mitigate the all-time high violence and offered suggestions on what could be done to reverse the trend.
"I am quoted as saying Rome is burning, and that is not meant to be hyperbolic… I've been ringing this alarm for over a year now," Williams said at the time. "Not just in New Orleans, but in its entire country. Uvalde, Nashville, Tennessee, Midtown Atlanta yesterday, Cleveland, Texas last week.
"This pandemic of violence is not confined to New Orleans' borders, but this is the area that I am focused on," he added. "This is where my family lives, and the level of repeated violence is unparalleled, and we need national and local responses to it."
The comments came after gunfire erupted outside a restaurant, leaving one employee dead and a customer injured during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
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HU.S. investor and Democrat donor George Soros (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images)
Some, though, blame Williams’ "selective prosecutions" on the violence.
When Williams was elected in 2020, he ran on a platform of social justice reform with intentions of finding "alternatives to incarceration" for some criminals, while also changing what he considered an "ineffective and unfair money bail system."
One of his campaign backers, billionaire Democratic donor George Soros, reportedly donated $220,000 to the Louisiana Justice and Public Safety PAC that year, which helped fund ad campaigns against Williams’ opponent, according to the Capital Research Center.
"Being more selective about prosecutions will allow us to focus on the crimes that matter most to all of us," Williams said after being sworn in. "We’ve got to go beyond punishment and invest in our community."
According to an analysis from the Metropolitan Crime Commission in 2022, Williams' tactics have resulted in a "drastic decline in accountability for violent felony offenders."
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Williams' office dismissed 937 of the city's 1,411 violent felony cases during his first months in office, the analysis reported.
Fox News Digital's Mike Lee contributed to this report.
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