Gig With White House Folks, Then Jail Time

Three weeks after he and dozens of others, including top-ranking Obama administration officials, spoke in the nation’s capital about building a brighter future for Americans, 20-year-old Demarco Scott robbed an electronics store at gunpoint, according to local police and officials.

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The month before, he had been a “student presenter” during a conference aimed at tackling issues such as job creation and economic stability, transportation and infrastructure, and housing stabilization in cities and towns across the country.

Scott was asked to describe his experience with a new city-sponsored internship program, which places “underserved young adults” into five-month apprenticeships across Washington, and teaches them resume-writing and job-interviewing skills.

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The conference, held over three days in the middle of March, featured mayors from across the country and several Obama administration officials, {snip}.

Around that same time, Scott was allegedly participating in a gun-wielding robbery spree across the nation’s capital.

Between March and April, he carried out armed robberies of a Subway sandwich shop, a liquor store and a carry-out restaurant, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

On April 8, shortly after noon, he entered a Game Stop electronics and video store in northeast Washington and pulled out a silver handgun, court documents said.

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According to court documents, Scott admitted to robbing the Game Stop and the other locations in Washington.

“Scott explained that the reason he robbed the [Game Stop] was because his brother was in trouble and needed money,” according to a summary of the case filed in court by a local detective.

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According to Scott’s own statements at the conference in Washington, trying to help someone in need is nothing new for him. But it’s unclear if doing so in a potentially criminal manner is new for him.

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