12. Marion Barry and the parade of prostitutes
On Tuesday, July 25, 1989, a strange parade crossed the 14th Street Bridge from Washington DC into Virginia. District police officers rounded up two dozen prostitutes and gave them the choice of marching across the bridge into Virginia or being charged and jailed in Washington. Police cruisers, lights flashing, escorted the exodus. Once on the Virginia side of the Potomac, the women were released, and according to eyewitnesses, the majority of them took taxis back to Washington. The parade was witnessed and photographed by reporters of the Washington Post, and others. The operation had been ordered by DC Mayor Marion Barry, no stranger to prostitutes and drugs himself.
Barry refused to comment on the incident at the time, referring to DC’s exploding violent crime rate as a subject more worthy of his time than the actions of a “few officers.” Senator John Warner of Virginia denounced Barry’s actions on the floor of the Senate. Six months later Barry was arrested after he was videotaped smoking crack in a Washington hotel room during an FBI sting operation. His lack of remorse or shame was evident throughout his trial, and the embarrassment of his mayoralty ended just before he was sentenced to six months in federal prison. He later returned to city council and eventually the mayor’s office, while racking up multiple traffic citations, suspended licenses, charges of conflicts of interest, and stalking.