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Capitol Hill staffer speaks out for first time since 2023 DC stabbing

WARNING, GRAPHIC FOOTAGE: D.C. stabbing victim Phillip Todd recounts the 2023 attack that nearly claimed his life while reacting to President Donald Trump's crime crackdown in the nation's capital.

A stranger rushed him on a D.C. sidewalk, stabbing him in the head and chest and leaving him fighting for his life just blocks from the Capitol. 

Now, two years later, this Capitol Hill staffer is breaking his silence, sharing a message of forgiveness and reacting to President Donald Trump’s new crime crackdown in Washington.

"While my obligation was to forgive my attacker, I believe it’s our elected officials’ obligation to figure out how to prevent things like this from happening in the future," Phillip Todd told Fox News on Wednesday.

"I'm not qualified to speak on how that's done, but I certainly welcome that it's now a priority in a conversation that's top of mind," he added.

MAN IN DC SHOT AND KILLED HOURS AFTER TRUMP FEDERALIZES CITY'S POLICE DEPARTMENT

D.C. staffer Phillip Todd said he wasn't qualified to speak on how D.C. crime can be quelled, but called it an obligation of elected officials to figure out how to prevent it. (Fox & Friends First (left); Andrew Harnik/Getty Images (right))

Moments after leaving a church event in 2023, Todd was walking with a friend to get food when the attacker, identified as then-42-year-old Glynn Neal, suddenly rushed him on the sidewalk. 

In shocking footage of the incident, the attacker can be seen jumping on top of Todd, stabbing him repeatedly. Todd's friend Chris then intervened and helped push the offender away.

Todd credited God – and his friend's "bravery" – for preventing additional stab wounds and saving his life.

"It was frankly due to grace of God that the four stabs he did get in didn't kill me," he said. 

MOTHER OF SLAIN CONGRESSIONAL INTERN PRAISES TRUMP'S WASHINGTON, DC CRIME CRACKDOWN

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press about deploying federal law enforcement agents in Washington to bolster the local police presence, as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on, in the Press Briefing Room at the White House, in Washington D.C., U.S., August 11, 2025. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

While recovering in the hospital, Todd learned his attacker had been released from prison just one day earlier after serving time for other violent crimes in D.C.

"I’m a Capitol Hill staffer, so the thoughts I would usually have around this would have been political or about what kind of justice my attacker needed to serve," he explained. 

"But honestly, as I was reflecting on it, it became abundantly clear to me that, though he shouldn’t be on the streets, God made it abundantly clear my primary responsibility in that moment was to forgive him and commit to praying for him regularly.

"I have to say, I think I found joy, peace, and strength in being obedient to God's call to forgiveness."

President Trump announced Monday that he is activating approximately 800 National Guard troops and is taking over the Metropolitan Police Department to "liberate" the nation's capital from out-of-control crime.

Fox News' Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

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