If it isn't being a slumlord, it is gun violence -- the second indictment on such charges against a local Democrat politician this month.

Local criminal defense attorney and former U.S. Congressman Craig Washington was indicted Thursday on a charge of aggravated assault in connection with a New Year's Day shooting incident outside his law office.

Washington, who was out of town when the indictment was unsealed, is accused of firing at Taylor Brooks, an 18-year-old senior at Cy-Fair High School. Bail was set at $30,000. An initial hearing will be scheduled once Washington surrenders and posts bail.

According to the police report on the incident, Brooks told officers Washington confronted him in the parking lot at the attorney's office in Midtown about 8:30 p.m.

As Brooks tried to drive away, Washington is alleged to have fired at his 2002 Chevrolet Camaro, with three bullets striking the passenger side. Brooks' friend, Evan McAnulty, 18, also was in the car at the time.

Brooks and McAnulty, a senior at Cy-Falls High School, declined to comment on the advice of lawyers.

Washington did not return a message left on his cell phone. An associate at his law office said the well-known local political and legal figure would not comment.

The charge in the indictment, handed up by a Harris County grand jury, is a second-degree felony punishable by a prison term of two to 20 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Washington, a Democrat, represented the 18th Congressional District for five years before being ousted by Sheila Jackson Lee in 1994. Jackson Lee accused him of losing touch with his district. He also was hurt by adverse publicity concerning his financial affairs and a tax debt.

Personally, I don't know what is scarier -- the fact that this guy has a gun, that it took so long for the indictment to come down, or that the people of the 18th District thought he was even worse than Sheila Jackson Lee.

But this does help explain why Democrats are so in favor of gun control -- it isn't that they are afraid of what ordinary people of ordinary judgment will do. They are instead afraid of what unstable persons like themselves will do, and believe that the only way of keeping themselves from engaging in reckless, dangerous activity that threatens the lives of others is to ban handguns.

I wonder -- will the local Leftosphere again remain silent about misdeeds by one of their own?

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