Jeremy Kohler

The Chautauquan Daily

In Summer 2024, I am working as the Environmental Issues Reporting Intern for the Chautauquan Daily, a daily, hyper-local newspaper. At the Daily, I cover environmental news, events, speakers, and figures throughout the Chautauqua community. Check out my work below!

• Chautauquan Daily

Tiny Houses, Big Futures

How a D.C. school uses social justice education to inspire students

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As mass shooting numbers continue to rise, Congress faces mounting pressure to take action

Organizers from March Fourth, an advocacy group dedicated to ending gun violence in the U.S., outline their plans to push Congress to take action.

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Video Coverage of the March 2023 Hands Off D.C. Rally

Coverage of demonstrators advocating for D.C. statehood following the U.S. Senate's reversal of the District's revised criminal code.

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Pop! Thrift, a nonprofit founded by GW students, looks to expand access to sustainable clothing options

Pop! Thrift co-founder Maya Levine talks about the nonprofit thrift store's journey from student organization to registered business.

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For Eleanor Spain, criminal justice reform is an inside job

The GW senior outlines her plans for the future of the justice system, in Washington and beyond.

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March on Roe

A photo essay documenting the 2022 March for Life in Washington, D.C.

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As mass shooting numbers continue to rise, Congress faces mounting pressure to take action

By Jeremy Kohler

A young girl at the March Fourth rally (Jeremy Kohler)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This year, the United States has seen more mass shootings than it has days – 199 in just 128 days, according to The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence in the U.S.While there is some debate over what constitutes a mass shooting – the number of victims, whether or not the death of the perpetrator is factored into that number, whether or not shootings that result from organized crime activities should be included – there is little debate over the impacts those shootings have on the communities around them.Lindsay Pinchuk joined the fight against gun violence after she found herself in the line of fire last Fourth of July, when a gunman opened fire at a Highland Park, Ill. parade.“I saw my best friend covering her two young kids with her own body,” Pinchuk said. “Those kids are my kids' best friends, and no kid should ever, ever have to go through that.”Pinchuk joined a quickly growing group of angry parents, students and teachers around the country, getting involved in March Fourth, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence, with a special focus on banning assault weapons.March Fourth is one of many gun violence advocacy groups that place moms at its center, perhaps overshadowed by the massive public profiles of groups like Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety, but at their core, each group is advocating for the same thing.“Our kids are our future and we are totally failing them,” Pinchuk said. “We are completely failing them. It’s time to turn it around.”But not every American is sold on the idea of banning any sort of firearms. Many high-profile politicians have attempted to shift the focus away from guns and onto issues like mental health instead, arguing that guns aren’t the problem and that other issues should be addressed instead.“We are working to address that anger and violence by going to its root cause, which is addressing the mental health problems behind it,” Governor Greg Abbot (R-Tx.) said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “People want a quick solution. The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue.”But the majority of Americans break from the views of those same high profile politicians – about 53% of Americans believe, broadly speaking, that gun control laws should be stricter, but nearly 90% support laws that would expand background checks and create more limits to who is allowed to purchase a firearm, according to research conducted by Pew Research Center.In the meantime, though, it is unlikely that Congress will move to make any sweeping changes, instead leaving most issues surrounding gun violence to be handled at the state level. This has led to some states dramatically loosening their gun laws, allowing for things like permitless concealed carry, and to other states, in response, tightening their gun laws, requiring tougher licensing procedures and enhancing training requirements.Regardless of where one stands on the issue of gun violence, there is no denying the human cost that shootings carry with them. And while there may not be an approach to addressing gun violence that will work completely and keep all parties happy, advocacy groups like March Fourth are not likely to slow their fight anytime soon.

Police search underway for suspected McDonald's stabber

By Jeremy Kohler

WASHINGTON – Police are searching for a suspect in connection to an assault with a deadly weapon that took place at an Adams Morgan McDonald’s in Northwest D.C. on Sunday, Feb. 26.The suspect entered the establishment, located at 2481 18th St. NW, at approximately 8:45 p.m. and demanded property from the employees, according to police. When the employees did not comply, the suspect brandished a knife, resulting in a physical altercation that left two employees stabbed. The suspect then fled the scene, and the two injured employees were transported to area hospitals for treatment.The assaults come during a recent surge of crimes in Adams Morgan that has left many residents feeling on edge; despite experiencing a decrease in violent crimes when compared to this time last year, Adams Morgan has seen a roughly 40% increase in property crimes in comparison to early 2022, according to police crime data. The number of thefts reported in the neighborhood has nearly doubled compared to the same time period last year.“It's obviously a really terrible situation and many of these business owners are my friends and neighbors,” Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jake Faleschini said in an email. “I'm glad that the police have made arrests for several of these crimes and I hope that they will solve every one of them and that the city will work to make our businesses whole and keep us as safe as possible.”The neighborhood’s crime surge has also become a priority for Brianne Nadeau, who represents the First District on the D.C. City Council. At the March Advisory Neighborhood Council 1C meeting, Lauren Lipsey, who works in Nadeau’s office, explained that public safety “has clearly been top of mind for the councilmember.” In a statement released on March 1, Nadeau expressed the need for a “multi-agency approach” to deterring crime in the area – increasing the amount of D.C. police patrolling the neighborhood, while also focusing more efforts on community-based crime deterrents, including utilizing what she referred to as “violence interrupters.”“We hire people who perhaps have gone to prison or have other relevant life experience, done their time and made a different choice and now want to give back to their community,” Nadeau’s statement said. “They work in the community where there is violence and dissuade people from picking up that gun.”Police are offering a $10,000 reward for any information that may lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in the McDonald’s stabbing, a Black woman who was seen wearing an all-black jacket and pants, white shoes and a black beanie with a blue stripe across the middle.Staff at the restaurant declined to comment on the incident, but both employees who were stabbed survived the incident.Police also advise anyone who may know or who comes in contact with the suspect not to take action, and to instead immediately call the police at (202) 727-9099 or to text the department’s tip line at 50411.

Expansion of Nightlife Taskforce into Adams Morgan showing early signs of success

By Jeremy Kohler

WASHINGTON – The expansion of D.C.’s Multiagency Nightlife Task Force to include Adams Morgan has appeared to be effective at slowing the surge in property crimes the neighborhood has seen since the start of this year, police data shows.The task force’s expansion, announced at a March 6 news conference, came following a nearly 40% increase in crimes compared to the same time last year, and calls from many residents for increased police presence in the area.“When MPD has deployed targeted, multiagency task forces to specific areas of the city, we have seen how these teams can work to drive down crime,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a news release. “Now, we are working with the community to expand those efforts.”The Nightlife Task Force was originally implemented to combat violent crime in three of D.C.’s most nightlife-heavy corridors: U Street Northwest, Connecticut Avenue Northwest, and H Street Northeast. The task force saw immediate returns in those areas, with total crime decreasing as much as 616% in the Connecticut Avenue corridor, according to police.Adams Morgan, also a neighborhood known for its vibrant nightlife, was added as one of the task force’s patrol areas after it experienced a surge in robberies and burglaries earlier this year, an increase in crime that many residents had not experienced in the past. Despite a decrease in violent crime in the area, residents were still on edge, and many were not satisfied with the city’s response to their concerns.The expansion of the Nightlife Task Force comes as welcome news to residents. D.C. Counclimember Brianne Nadeau (D-1), who had previously expressed the need for more resources from the city, as the neighborhood had relied much more heavily on community-based crime deterrents in the past, said in a post on her official Twitter account that she looked forward “to working with the mayor, the many agencies, and the advocates in our city and ward to reduce crime and help people feel safer.”“We hope… [the taskforce] will have a significant impact on the burglaries that we’ve been seeing in [the area],” David Connerty-Marin, communications director for Nadeau’s office, said. “It’s very much on people’s minds, it’s very much on the councilmember’s mind, and certainly more so now.”In the week immediately following the task force’s expansion into Adams Morgan, police data indicated a significant drop in property theft and auto theft, and the neighborhood didn’t report any burglaries. Connerty-Marin also said that police had made numerous arrests in connection with crimes in the area, some of which had occurred over a month prior.In the weeks since, there has been a slight uptick in robberies being reported in the area, but the number remains the lowest they have been since January, a sign that the task force may be having similar effects to what it had when it was initially implemented in other areas of D.C.Police encourage residents of Adams Morgan to continue reporting any and all suspicious activity they encounter, and to participate in the city’s Private Security Camera Incentive Program, which provides financial support to residents who install security cameras on their property and register them with M.P.D.

FBI, DOJ announce civil rights investigation following shooting death of teenager in D.C.

By Jeremy Kohler

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia announced in an April 5 statement that it was opening an investigation, in cooperation with the FBI, into the United States Park Police surrounding the circumstances of the shooting death of 17-year-old Dalaneo Martin.On March 18, D.C. police responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle in the Deanwood neighborhood in Northeast D.C., according to police. When officers arrived, they found Martin asleep in the driver’s seat. They were soon joined by officers from Park Police, and body cam video from the scene shows the officers formulating a plan to enter the vehicle and remove Martin. At one point, a D.C. police officer can be heard saying “just don’t get caught inside that car.”When the officers attempted to remove Martin from the vehicle, one of the Park Police officers made his way into the back of the car, at which point Martin woke up and began to accelerate away from the scene with the officer stuck in the back seat.The officer can then be heard asking Martin to stop the car and let him out, before threatening to fire his weapon if Martin didn’t. After Martin continued to drive, the officer fired five shots directly into Martin’s back, killing the teen and causing the vehicle to collide with a nearby home.The Department of Justice and the FBI announced the opening of their joint civil rights investigation into the U.S. Park Police came the same day the body cam video from the shooting was released amidst growing pressure from Martin’s family and many area activists.“The investigation is a good step in the right direction, but it’s not enough,” said Ahmi Thitayan, a Northeast D.C. resident and staffer for D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. “Things have to change on a much bigger scale – no more kids should be getting killed by police.”The DOJ, FBI, and Park Police declined to comment on the investigation or the shooting while the investigation is open.The Park Police, the oldest law enforcement organization in the United States, was again thrust into the national spotlight just two weeks after the civil rights investigation began, following their $5 million settlement with the family of Bijan Ghaisar, a 25-year-old accountant from McLean, Va. who was shot and killed by Park Police following a reported hit-and-run in 2017.“The Ghaisar family has faced years of unjust obstacles and stonewalling in their pursuit of answers in this case,” Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexler (D-10) said in a statement. “This settlement validates the Ghaisar’s relentless pursuit of justice in the wrongful killing of their son.”The lawsuit Ghaisar’s parents filed over his death alleges that Ghaisar was pursued by Park Police vehicles following a minor hit-and-run, further stating that dash cam video from one of the vehicles shows Ghaisar stopping his vehicle numerous times, before eventually being boxed in by the officers, who exited their vehicles and fired nine shots toward Ghaisar, four of which hit him.Ghaisar’s family sued Park Police for wrongful death, and the settlement marks the end of their legal struggle with the agency after the FBI declined to press criminal charges against the officers, according to a statement released in November 2019.As for the family of Dalaneo Martin, many of their questions may remain unanswered until the DOJ and FBI release the findings of their investigation, which could take months, or even years to complete.
The shooting of Martin marks the latest incident for a law enforcement agency that tends to fly under the radar; despite its founding by George Washington in the early days of his presidency, the agency’s focus on national parks and less-urbanized areas has generally kept it out of the national spotlight. However, the shootings of Martin and Ghaisar, a lawsuit settled in 2021 over claims of racial profiling, and a lawsuit filed against the agency last year have thrust Park Police into a new position, with many more eyes on them than in the past.For now though, all eyes remain on the investigation into the shooting death of Martin.