It’s been since last October that we heard much more about any rock throwing attacks in Columbia Heights. Despite the prevalence of these types of assaults last year, thought to be perpetrated by groups of neighborhood kids, they had seemingly stopped sometime over the winter and not begun anew, until now.

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) has been circulating a couple of emails to District police officials and neighborhood listserves: one that reports a group of kids throwing rocks at apartment windows and breaking them (it’s unclear from the email which street this is), and another that relates a story of a physical assault by some youths on 14th NW.

Councilmember Jim Graham, last Friday, the 25th of May, my partner and I were walking south on 14th Street. When we reached Fairmont and 14th there was a group of kids using plastic milk crates to sit on, on the side of the sidewalk. When we crossed Fairmont and reached the group, one of them screamed, jumped up from the crate he was sitting on and slugged my partner in the groin. There were about 10 kids in group and I would say the ages were from around 10 to 18. They thought this was one of the funniest things they had ever done, from the laughing they were doing.

We weren’t sure what to do. We live 2 blocks away and didn’t want to do anything to make us a permanent target. I’m sure we were not the only people picked out to harass, maybe we were the only ones to get hit that day, don’t know.

We moved onto Clifton St. last November and have noticed nothing but animosity and hatred towards us from the black neighbors that have been living here for a while. We even had rocks thrown at us last fall. I have never, ever in my life lived in an area where people were attacked on the street the way we were for no reason.