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Eleanor Holmes Norton Denies Freeing Maryland Zebras - Washingtonian
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News & Politics

Eleanor Holmes Norton Denies Freeing Maryland Zebras

DC's delegate to Congress says that while she has "been known to oppose unnecessary fences," she has an alibi.

Image via iStock.

DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton would like to make one thing clear: She had nothing to do with the zebras that have been on the run in Maryland for the past week.

The zebras reportedly got out last weekend, “a period of time during which I was enjoying quiet time at home with family,” Norton says in a press release that is an instant candidate for the strangest thing that happened on September 10, 2021. “My alibi is solid.”

Washingtonian was unable to substantiate any allegations that DC’s representative in Congress had been accused of unleashing zebras on a neighboring jurisdiction. The release appears to have been inspired by a pocket retrospective of Norton’s career: “given my career of fighting for statehood for the District, which includes years of explaining the importance of having consent of the governed, and given my recent opposition to fences, I can understand why the charge was made,” she writes in the release. “I hope the owners find the zebras and that all involved live long, full lives.”

Norton introduced legislation early this year to make sure no permanent fencing stayed around the building, where Donald Trump supporters rioted in January. She had no objection to reports that the US Capitol Police intend to install temporary fencing in advance of a September 18 rally by conservatives planned for the Capitol. “I would hope that we wouldn’t have to fence in the Capitol every time there’s a demonstration,” she told the Associated Press. But, she said, “If they go with the fence, I’m not going to criticize them.”

The zebras remain at large.

Senior editor

Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.