Democratic congresswoman critical of police carjacked in Philadelphia

Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint Wednesday in broad daylight at FDR Park in South Philadelphia.

She was returning to her Acura following a tour of the park when she was approached by two armed men in an SUV around 2:45 p.m., according to local outlet WPVI. The men demanded Scanlon's keys and then drove off in her car with her government and personal cell phones and her purse. 

Scanlon, whose district partially includes South Philadelphia, was "physically unharmed" according to a statement from her office. 

"She thanks the Philadelphia Police Department for their swift response, and appreciates the efforts of both the Sergeant at Arms in D.C. and her local police department for coordinating with Philly PD to ensure her continued safety," the statement concluded.

Scanlon has been a vocal critic of law enforcement and has supported measures that some argue will defund the police. 

She voted for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which several Republican lawmakers argued will defund police departments. She also tweeted her support for the act on numerous occasions. 

She also is one of 125 representatives to cosponsor the Mental Health Justice Act, which would give grants to communities to send "mental health professionals" to crisis situations instead of police officers. 

Earlier this month, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner denied record crime levels in the City of Brotherly Love and was forced to walk back his statements. 

"We don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence," he said according to Fox News. "It’s important that we don’t let this become mushy and bleed into the notion that there is some kind of big spike in crime. There isn't. There is not a big spike in crime. … There is not a big spike in violent crime. Neither one of these things is true."

Krasner later clarified his statement after backlash. "I know that some inarticulate things I said earlier this week have offended people. The message conveyed through media sound bites is not at all what I meant," he wrote. "It is my obligation to do better."