These days you really can’t be too careful, not even when dealing with government officials. One TikToker from Washington DC recently shared a disturbing experience that she had while out jogging through the city. User rgmhall explained that as she passed by Washington Union Station, she noticed a group of DEA federal officers gathered together. Curious, she asked what exactly they were doing there and what they were supposedly protecting the public from. To her, the group looked less like defenders of justice and more like a pack of thugs.
One white male officer responded as though everything in the world was a looming danger to American citizens. The TikToker couldn’t take the reply seriously, and she remarked sarcastically, “Yeah, because I feel so scared.” Perhaps taking offense at her tone, the DEA officer called after her as she walked away, saying, “Come back here with that little skirt.”
Clearly, this was not an appropriate comment to make to anyone, especially a woman. The Washington DC jogger suddenly felt deeply uneasy. After all, those words had come from a middle-aged man in a position of authority, armed and representing federal law enforcement.
Feeling threatened, she reported the incident to a nearby Metro police officer. But instead of showing concern or even attempting to get to the bottom of the matter, the TikToker says the officer brushed her off entirely. “He didn’t look surprised, he didn’t look like he cared at all,” she recalled. “He barely even looked me in the eyes. I feel so safe, DC.”
Her account quickly spread online, where many people expressed outrage. To think that those entrusted to protect citizens could instead become the very people women need to be wary of shocked users across social media. One Reddit user remarked bitterly, “Sounds like the rapists have the badges and the guns now.” Others urged her to report the officer directly to the DEA so he could face punishment, though some doubted the agency would take any meaningful action.
One commenter even shared a personal story about a friend who had once joined the DEA but eventually quit. “When I asked him about that career path, he said it quickly became clear that reducing drug use and stopping illegal imports were nowhere near the top of the list. Outside of a few token programs, those goals were treated as unimportant. So he quit the DEA and went into the booze business. The quality of officers you see today is the result of decades of that.”
