Congressman Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore home burglarized, Donald Trump says 'too bad'
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: Maryland Representative Elijah Cummings' home in Baltimore was reportedly broken into early Saturday morning last week, just hours before President Trump wrote a controversial tweet slamming Cummings and the city of Baltimore, deeming it uninhabitable.
The tweet, seen as racist considering the majority of the African American population in the city, has received severe backlash from critics.
Reports state that the burglary occurred at around 3:40 am at the lawmaker's home in the 2000 block of Madison Avenue. Officials, at this time, do not know if any property was taken during the incident.
The Congressman also spoke on the news of the burglary by issuing a statement, saying that he scared the intruder away. "An individual attempted to gain entry into my residence at approximately 3:40 AM on Saturday, July 27," the statement said. "I 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. I thank the Baltimore Police Department for their response and ask that all further inquiries be directed to them.”
Baltimore has been in news this week — because of the president's tweet — while Cummings has remained mostly silent on Trump's attack as the Republican continued to speak about the high crime rate in the region and called the city a "rodent-infested mess."
"Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA……” Trump tweeted last Saturday. “….As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place."
“Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately! Elijah Cummings spends all of his time trying to hurt innocent people through ‘Oversight.’ He does NOTHING for his very poor, very dangerous and very badly run district! Take a look,” Trump added and later also shared a video of garbage in an alley in West Baltimore.
A neighbor of Rep. Cummings, while speaking to WJZ, said that he has known the lawmaker for years and was shocked to hear about the break-in. "Anything he can do to help this neighborhood he has been there for us," the neighbor said.
Authorities have not yet identified any suspects in the burglary case. However, the family who lives across the Congressman's street told the outlet that they captured some video footage of the incident on their doorbell camera.
As people expressed their shock over the burglary, President Trump also took to Twitter early morning on Friday to share the news, writing: "Really bad news! The Baltimore house of Elijah Cummings was robbed. Too bad!"
Authorities from the Central District are currently investigating the burglary, and have asked people who have any information regarding the case to call 410-396-2221 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7Lockup and alert them of the updates.