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For months, Jeffrey Levin has portrayed himself as a small landlord struggling against harsh pro-tenant laws and a deadbeat tenant. In support of his narrative, he provided WJLA with videos of his interactions with the woman who rents a basement studio apartment in his seven-unit, rent-controlled building on Capitol Hill.

One 2023 clip, which went viral on social media after the local ABC affiliate published a story about it in September, shows tenant Michele Watley holding a baseball bat and repeatedly telling Levin and his wife, attorney Dunniela Kaufman, to “back up.” The video ends abruptly with Levin claiming Watley “hit my fucking wife” and telling her to “get in your place.”

The incident prompted widespread sympathy for Levin as the outlet presented him as a beleaguered property owner unable to evict a tenant who he claims has denied entry for inspections and repairs and hasn’t paid rent since 2023.

“I never thought I’d be a poster child, nor do I want to be, for everything that’s wrong with rental laws in the District of Columbia,” Levin told WJLA.

For Watley, who is the sole remaining tenant in the building, the video unleashed a storm of online vitriol, harassment, and threats, with many openly advocating for violence against her and calling her a “squatter.”

Levin also testified before the D.C. Council in December about his plight as a landlord, rattling off several instances where Watley allegedly obstructed his efforts to inspect or repair issues in her unit, which he described as a “225-square-foot basement unit with no kitchen.” (Her unit does have a kitchen, court records show.) WJLA published a follow-up story with the headline: “Landlord losing money as tenant denies access in battle over Capitol Hill apartment.”