Patterico's Pontifications

8/2/2019

Elijah Cummings’ Home Burglarized, Police Say

Filed under: General — Dana @ 7:18 am



[guest post by Dana]

This is unfortunate:

Rep. Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore home was broken into over the weekend, police and a report said Thursday.

The burglary took place Saturday around 3:40 a.m. at the house in the 200 block of Madison Avenue, a Baltimore Police Department spokeswoman said.

According to local outlet WJZ, that is where the Democratic congressman lives. It’s still unclear if anything was stolen, cops said.

The break-in occurred several hours before President Trump accused the House Oversight Committee chair on Twitter of being a “brutal bully” and called Cummings’ district a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” and a “very dangerous place.”

President Trump reacted to the break-in on Twitter:

Untitled

My unpopular opinion: If it was anyone else but Trump saying this, I would assume that it was a heartfelt gesture. But this is Trump we’re talking about, and history has shown that such a charitable read would be foolish. So I’m just going to say: what a deplorable response from the president. In light of his very recent attacks on Cummings and his city, it would have been best if the president had simply remained silent.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

66 Responses to “Elijah Cummings’ Home Burglarized, Police Say”

  1. The Baltimore P.D. said that they are “unsure” if anything was stolen during the break-in, therefore we don’t know if Cummings was robbed.

    Dana (fdf131)

  2. The “I’m a jerk mocking you” tone of his tweet gives it away. But there will be posters who will likely disagree, and wonder how anyone could think such a thing, or know so easily what Trump really means.

    Appalled (c9622b)

  3. 1. Actually, robbery is taking of one’s property by force or threat of force. It would appear that Cummings was, in fact, burglarized, which is taking of property by breaking-and-entering.

    Gryph (08c844)

  4. Did the “burglars” leave any “clues”? Like a piece of paper saying “Search And Seizure Warrant”?

    Were Trump’s tweets about the waste and fraud involving federal grants in Baltimore a leak that he could not resist about an actual federal investigation that he was briefed on?

    nk (dbc370)

  5. Gryph,

    Except that we don’t know that anything was taken, according to the police.

    Dana (fdf131)

  6. According to ABC News:

    .@RepCummings says that an individual attempted to gain entry into his home Sat July 27 at 3:40am and he “was notified of the intrusion by my security system, and I scared the intruder away by yelling before the person gained entry into the residential portion of the house.”

    Dana (fdf131)

  7. No robbery.

    Dana (fdf131)

  8. Attempted home invasion.

    nk (dbc370)

  9. Politico’s inaccurate headline:

    ‘Too bad!’: Trump seizes on Cummings robbery amid Baltimore attacks
    By QUINT FORGEY 08/02/2019 09:21 AM EDT

    Dana (fdf131)

  10. The Hill’s inaccurate headline:

    Trump responds to reports of Cummings’s Baltimore home being robbed: ‘Too bad!’
    BY JOHN BOWDEN – 08/02/19 08:09 AM EDT

    And so it goes.

    Dana (fdf131)

  11. Too Bad! – LOL

    rcocean (1a839e)

  12. “Too bad” = Trump pounces.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  13. 5. If nothing was taken, then it’s breaking and entering. The act of theft itself (including evidence of an attempted theft) or the use of violence both enhance the underlying crime. Trump isn’t the only person who tends to use imprecise language in describing this incident.

    Gryph (08c844)

  14. Since trump started off with “Really Bad News” – i don’t think he’s being sarcastic. But he should be.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  15. Obviously the burglar is a racist for targeting a person of color.

    Munroe (4bb078)

  16. Since trump started off with “Really Bad News” – i don’t think he’s being sarcastic. But he should be.

    rcocean (1a839e) — 8/2/2019 @ 7:57 am

    Pathetic.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  17. “A person commits burglary when without authority he or she knowingly enters or without authority remains within a building, housetrailer, watercraft, aircraft, motor vehicle, railroad car, or any part thereof, with intent to commit therein a felony or theft.”

    That’s the law in most states, and for those who want to be sticklers to the common law definition, Cummings’ case does include the common law elements of “dwelling” and “at nighttime”.

    Home invasion does not have to be at night but it has to be a “residence” and “persons present inside the residence”.

    nk (dbc370)

  18. For all I know it was an Amazon delivery and Cummings yelled at him through an intercom.
    Not a huge victimization here, and I definitely think anyone living in Baltimore should have a great security system.

    Trump’s dumb mockery of a crime is another way he’s a small man, and a poor example. You can see how it affects society in the pathetic way it’s defended, basically by liars.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  19. I’m sticking to the FBI trying to plant bugs.

    nk (dbc370)

  20. It’s petty AF…no one likes the “I told you so” tenor…

    Also, hysterical.

    Both can be true… and par for the course of this president.

    whembly (51f28e)

  21. 8. nk (dbc370) — 8/2/2019 @ 7:48 am

    Attempted home invasion.

    No, he gained entry – that’s why it is burglary. The definition of burglary in breaking and entering .

    He gained entry but not into the residential portion of the house.

    Possibly he got into a garage, which could have led him into the residential areas. But it triggerd the security system and woke up Elijah Cummings and he yelled at him, and the burglar left because if he didn’t he feared the police would soon be there, and the burglar is experienced.

    Trump didn’t tweet “I told you so” but the message came across just because he mentioned it.

    The news reports made clear that this haopened before Trump’s first tweet about Cummings and Baltimore because otherwise people might think Trump caused it.

    Sammy Finkelman (e806a6)

  22. Trump didn’t even really know what happened, because Elijah Cumminss home wasn’t robbed. He was there and he stopped the burglar with his tongue.

    Sammy Finkelman (e806a6)

  23. “Trump’s dumb mockery of a crime is another way he’s a small man, and a poor example.”
    Dustin (6d7686) — 8/2/2019 @ 8:23 am

    Omar mocked assault on Paul and the media yawned.

    What’s pathetic is a commentariat driven incessantly by media narratives.

    Munroe (4bb078)

  24. Maybe some voter in his district was looking for reparations from the wasted billions the feds coughed up.

    mg (8cbc69)

  25. Nikki Haley just tweeted in response to this Trump tweet:

    “This is so unecessary” (eye roll emoji).

    Appalled (c9622b)

  26. Of course he’s being sarcastic. It’s much like saying:

    “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,”

    When you say it about someone nice, it’s heartfelt.
    When you say it about someone nasty, and who might have contributed to his own misfortune by being nasty, it’s a backhanded slap.

    Maybe if Elijah Cummings had really worked on Baltimore the way it should be worked on, this wouldn’t have happened. (I’ve read news reports of Cummings being robbed a few years before as well. He must not have the money for a 7×24 guard on his house, and it’s pretty easy to tell when he’s in Washington and there’s no one home.)

    Ingot9455 (d9d16a)

  27. Trump fans seem to follow the same pattern every time.

    “trump’s mockery was funny”
    “trump didn’t really even mock them you’re just being a nevertrumper”
    “trump did mock because whatabout them democrats doing something totally unrelated which was bad too”

    If you’re going to say it’s great that someone in the wrong political camp was a victim of a crime, just man up and say it. If you’re going to then say it was wrong for a democrat to do the same thing, while flipping back and forth between admitting what we all see, you’re a pathetic weasel. All this bravado about Brave sir Robin Trump went out the window when Iran poked him in both eyes. He’s a twitter troll, not a president.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  28. 25,

    So the question now: does Trump put Haley through the ringer on Twitter for her comments?

    Dana (fdf131)

  29. Her utility to Trump decreases proportionately to the likelihood Gabbard or Yang is on the other ticket.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  30. Or maybe he’s afraid of how people got on columnist Carl Rowan after he shot at a burglar in 1988.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  31. For those defending Trump’s tweet, consider how Trump openly attacks those who have criticized him. It’s not hard to see the pattern.

    Dana (fdf131)

  32. #28 — Maybe. Haley pulled off the Twitter equivalent of “There he goes again”, so maybe he does not want to give this dust up too much oxygen.

    I wonder when Trump starts putting emoji into his tweets….

    Appalled (c9622b)

  33. The timing reminded me of this David Frye routine: https://damnthatojeda.wordpress.com/2008/04/13/comedy-tonight-richard-nixon-a-fantasy/

    Advocaat (2526e9)

  34. We should certainly condemn Trump’s tweet, because if we don’t do it nobody will.

    Munroe (4bb078)

  35. Baltimore Police are looking for a large, orange man, with disheveled hair, wearing an unbuttoned blue suit coat, a white shirt, and an extra long red tie. He was last seen boarding a helicopter with USMC markings in the company of several men wearing suits, with earpieces in their ears.

    Advocaat (2526e9)

  36. Let it be an Ojeda that provided that comedy gold, Advocaat…former MLB pitcher Bob Ojeda survived a mass shooting at a lake as a teen, edge trimmers during a pennant chase, and the boat accident that functionally decapitated 2 of his teammates.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  37. Sounds like it wasn’t safe being around Bob Ojeda, except for Bob Ojeda. I didn’t know that.

    Advocaat (2526e9)

  38. Not only that, he also was part of this big brawl at a hotel bar with several members of the Houston PD during the 1986 season (Beldar bait?).

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  39. Allahpundit:

    If Trump stands for anything it’s the idea that one shouldn’t apologize for one’s basest impulses, particularly the impulse to punish one’s opponents. On the contrary. He’s been indulging his impulses for 70 years and look where it’s gotten him.

    Also:

    Nikki Haley

    @NikkiHaley

    This is so unnecessary.

    Dave (1bb933)

  40. We should certainly condemn Trump’s tweet, because if we don’t do it nobody will.

    How about we condemn it because it was wrong? Or are we not supposed to say anything done by Trump is wrong?

    Chuck Bartowski (bc1c71)

  41. 39 — the responses to Allahpundit’s post on HotAir are mostly the predictable pile-on of anger that AP is again being mean to The President. E.g. –

    People allow their own disdain for Trump to interpret his tweet in the worst way.

    In the Trumpster mind, disdain for Trump can’t possibly be rooted in what Trump says and does. It must be some arbitrary prejudice that unfairly shades one’s “interpretation” of everything Trump says and does.

    Seems that you have to love Donald Trump in order to have a correct understanding of his words and deeds.

    Radegunda (3578a5)

  42. Memo

    To: Elijah Cummings
    From: Donald Trump

    Subject: House Chant

    LOCK IT UP! LOCK IT UP!

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  43. @39. The next-Madam-Vice-President makes a necessary ‘I’m still here’ tweet for the media cycle.

    She’s not thinking about Boeing… but going.

    Trump/Haley 2020.

    Place your bets…

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  44. 43 — Wait for the next twitter cycle before depending on that. If they start talking about this on Fox tomorrow morning when the President is watching, all bets are off. Even Ivanka wouldn’t be able to stop him.

    Appalled (c9622b)

  45. This kind of contradixts Trump’s earlier idea (which he seemed to imply) t know what’s going on in the worst parts of his district.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  46. President Trump tells C-SPAN this afternoon:

    President Trump on tweet regarding Rep. Cummings: “I know his house was robbed and I thought that was too bad…that was really not meant as a wise guy tweet.”

    Dana (fdf131)

  47. He also said that Nikki Haley’s tweet was OK.

    Dana (fdf131)

  48. It’s encouraging if that wasn’t intended as wise-guy tweet. But when someone has Trump’s long history of insult-tweeting, and generally being a jerk, he shouldn’t be surprised that people would read his “Too bad!” in the same spirit as his use of “Sad!” – or his “They can’t help it if they’re stupid losers” shtick.

    Trump ago squandered the benefit of the doubt regarding charitable intent.

    Radegunda (3578a5)

  49. … long ago squandered ….

    Radegunda (3578a5)

  50. President Trump on tweet regarding Rep. Cummings: “I didn’t mean nothin”

    Bravely bold Sir Robin
    Rode forth from Camelot.
    He was not afraid to die,
    Oh brave Sir Robin.
    He was not at all afraid
    To be killed in nasty ways.
    Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin.
    He was not in the least bit scared
    To be mashed into a pulp.
    Or to have his eyes gouged out,
    And his elbows broken.
    To have his kneecaps split
    And his body burned away,
    And his limbs all hacked and mangled
    Brave Sir Robin.

    Dustin (6d7686)

  51. I was going with a variation of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” Dustin.

    Dana (fdf131)

  52. Omar mocked assault on Paul and the media yawned.

    Come on, man: comparatively speaking, Ilhan Omar is a pimple on the Donald Trump’s butt. She has almost zero influence outside of her media admirers and the intersectionality mafia. Stop trying to equate her influence to that of the President.

    Maybe I’m totally misreading this, but I’m starting to wonder if Trump is starting to wonder if his obnoxious troll-Tweeting isn’t counter-productive. Maybe he’s way too much of a lunatic to notice, but with the way he walked back the Cummings tweet and give Nikki Haley a pass, maybe he has finally determined that his act is growing stale.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  53. Can you give him that benefit of the doubt, JVW?

    Dana (fdf131)

  54. Can you give him that benefit of the doubt, JVW?

    No, I’m not there just yet.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  55. I think Trump is still trying to have it both ways, so his supporters see him as the strongman who talks tough and his spokesmen/political allies/media sympathizers can portray him as the leader who walked back any controversial rhetoric.

    DRJ (15874d)

  56. Trump silent=”he didn’t even express regrets for what happened.”

    Harcourt Fenton Mudd (6b1442)

  57. Maybe, DRJ, but given that Trump is always in it first and foremost for himself and how he can advance his brand, I’m not sure. Also, what you suggest gives him a lot of credit for deliberately thinking things through and strategizing, which doesn’t seem to be in his wheelhouse.

    Dana (fdf131)

  58. this is just a day ending in y, not to mention the attacks on his family his business,

    https://nypost.com/2019/08/01/man-claims-he-was-attacked-for-wearing-maga-hat-in-manhattan/

    narciso (d1f714)

  59. Hoo-boy, now TrumpWorld has it’s own equivalent of the Gabbard-Harris catfight:

    In replay to Nikki Haley, Kellyanne goes to the mat for the only man she loves:

    Kellyanne Conway

    @KellyannePolls

    THIS is so unnecessary
    Trump-PENCE2020

    Dave (1bb933)

  60. *reply

    Dave (1bb933)

  61. Next time Kellyanne appears to speak, the women should wear dots and the men turbans.

    urbanleftbehind (e07e6b)

  62. I suggest that when trying to decipher Kellyanne, the thing to keep first and foremost in mind is that she is a woman and the second that she is a blonde. And then just throw up your hands.

    nk (dbc370)

  63. You mean she did run the campaign of the most unexpected victory since Truman in 48 silly me.

    Narciso (72d34b)

  64. Maybe, DRJ, but given that Trump is always in it first and foremost for himself and how he can advance his brand, I’m not sure. Also, what you suggest gives him a lot of credit for deliberately thinking things through and strategizing, which doesn’t seem to be in his wheelhouse.

    Dana (fdf131) — 8/2/2019 @ 3:16 pm

    I think we are saying the same thing because I agree Trump probably doesn’t plan an elaborate back-and-forth strategy on every issue. I think he says something, gets pushback, reverses course, gets more pushback, and continues to say whatever comes to mind until a new topic replaces it … and then the process repeats. Every day is a new day for him and every lie is a new lie.

    DRJ (15874d)

  65. A few notes>

    Whle Elijah Cummings, 68, shouted at the burglar, his wife, 47, who also heads the Maryland Democratic party, took a picture of him. He escaped by bicycle, probably the same bicycle by which he got there. This happened at about 4 am. They called police after 8 am (no reason for anybpdy not to finish their sleep before calling the police)

    Sammy Finkelman (e806a6)


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