Everyone should have a friend like Christopher Barnard.
He’s the man who aided Phillip Todd during a March 25 unprovoked knife attack in Washington, D. C.
Todd, an aide to Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Barnard had just left a restaurant in the time between a church service and an apartment social gathering when Glynn Neal came up to them and allegedly began stabbing Todd,
Without thinking, Barnard immediately went into action, he said in an interview with The Washington Post.
“It all happened so fast, I feel like I didn’t have time to be scared in the moment,” Barnard recalled.
He tackled the attacker, getting him off Todd. He then grabbed Todd, yelling “We got to go, we got to go,” and the pair, despite blood streaming from Todd’s head, ran to a point where they believed they were out of danger.
“Chris, please pray for me,” Barnard recalled Todd saying, while Barnard laid him on the sidewalk, worked to stop the flow of blood, and yelled for someone to dial 911.
On the sidewalk, while holding Todd’s injured head, Barnard said he knelt and prayed.
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Upon hospitalization which included surgery, Todd was treated for four stab wounds that resulted in a punctured lung and potential bleeding of the brain.
Yet, Todd was released from the hospital in less than a week, a recovery Barnard tweeted that doctors described as “pretty miraculous.”
Phil was just discharged from the hospital!
The doctors say it’s pretty miraculous – less than a week after a skull fracture & brain bleeding.
Thank you everyone for your prayers & support. pic.twitter.com/5fvSBNhoTL
— Christopher Barnard (@ChrisBarnardDL) March 31, 2023
Barnard, vice president of the American Conservation Coalition, met Todd several years ago while hiking in Great Falls Park. They hit it off as they discovered they both were Christians, enjoyed the outdoors, and were politically conservative.
Christopher Barnard said the attacker, a stranger, lunged at him and his friend, Phillip Todd, with a knife. Barnard tackled the man from behind. https://t.co/ZFZDioVcYu
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 3, 2023
After Todd was attacked, Barnard was involved in efforts to organize provisions of meals and prayer chains. There also were organized hospital visits to Todd, including by Sen. Paul.
Following the incident, authorities arrested Neal for assault with intent to kill. He had been released the day before the attack following a 12-year prison sentence for charges including pandering and threatening to kidnap.
Two days after the incident, Neal was to have reported to a federal agency to determine a five-year post prison supervision plan.
The stabbing occurred in the wake of growing concern about crime in the capitol city. The incident has prompted Barnard’s wife to continually keep a key embedded between her knuckles, he said.
Barnard said D.C. officials should have policies to keep individuals like Neal off its streets.
“I feel like there is an approach to crime that isn’t taking into account the safety and needs of people who live here,” he told the Washington Post. “It’s more about the politics and rhetoric, and that’s done a lot of damage. They need to get a grip on the crime.”
Barnard advocates more congressional involvement in the city’s crime problem. The District seems to be moving toward a softer position on crime, like other blue cities, including a proposed reduction of carjacking penalties, a measure halted by Congress.
Violent crime in D.C. is up 1 percent over the past year, with homicides up 23 percent, the Post reported.
“I think it’s so clear that there are thousands and thousands of employees from the federal government who work in D.C and are impacted by this crime situation,” Barnard said.
His friend Phillip Todd can attest to that.
