What do the 12 US cities with record murder rates all have in common?
A dozen US cities just broke records for annual homicides, a feat that should shake the political establishment to its very foundations. But because these cities are run by Democrats, the mainstream media has given them a pass.
A pandemic is tearing a path of pain and suffering across the American heartland, where the very bonds that hold communities together are being tested like never before. Yet this malignancy requires no microscope to witness. From Toledo, Ohio to Albuquerque, New Mexico, people are having their lives cut tragically short due to cold-blooded murders, oftentimes through the cold middleman of a firearm.
Twelve US cities just broke records this year for homicides, yet the bloody achievements carry a very distinctive footnote – they are all, without exception, run by Democrats.
Philadelphia, for example, a city of some 1.5 million people, has shattered its 1990 homicide record (500) – the so-called ‘City of Brotherly Love’ marked its 521st killing as of December 6, an increase of 13% from 2020.
“It’s terrible to every morning get up and… look at the news and see the stories. It’s just crazy. It's just crazy and this needs to stop,” Philadelphia’s Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney was quoted as saying by ABC News.
Portland, Oregon, where hundreds of police officers have resigned since 2020, also ranked among the dirty dozen, posting its highest homicide rate since 1987 with 72. Failed crime-fighting policies are to blame. In the heat of the Black Lives Matter protests last year, Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler, taking a knee to mob rule, ordered police to stop using non-lethal tear gas, the most effective and non-lethal riot-control method available to police.
The Portland Police responded with an impassioned rebuke of the order, which made enforcing the law with non-lethal means nearly impossible.
“Since May 29, 2020, Portland Police… have been attacked with rocks, glass bottles, frozen water bottles, lasers capable of causing permanent eye damage…as well as fire bombs, large fireworks, and other items,” Police Chief Chuck Lovell wrote.
“Banning the lawful use of CS [tear gas] will make it very difficult to address this kind of violence without resorting to much higher levels of physical force,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chicago, which hasn’t set a new record, is nevertheless on track for another murderous year. According to Chicago Police Department crime data, as of the end of November the Windy City leads the country with 739 homicides, already up 3% from last year. Chicago’s deadliest year on record occurred in 1970, when 974 homicides were registered.
The 12 US cities breaking records for homicides
- Indianapolis, Indiana (246 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Toledo, Ohio (62 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Rochester, New York (71 homicides, previous highest 1971)
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (521 homicides, previous highest 1990)
- Columbus, Ohio (179 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Baton Rouge, Louisiana (137 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Austin, Texas (60 homicides, previous highest 1984)
- Louisville, Kentucky (175 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Albuquerque, New Mexico (82 homicides, previous highest 2019)
- Tucson, Arizona (80 homicides, previous highest 2008)
- St. Paul, Minnesota (35 homicides, previous highest 2020)
- Portland, Oregon (72 homicides, previous highest 1987)
The obvious question is: what, or who, has made Democratic-run cities hotspots for cold-blooded murder? The short answer is that criminal-minded miscreants have been conditioned to believe they are above the law. Many people, mostly on the right of the political spectrum, point to the billionaire kingmaker George Soros for that dangerous change of mentality. In 2016, the wealthy philanthropist poured $3 million into seven local district-attorney races, including tightly contested campaigns in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas.
One person who benefitted from Soros’ largesse was Larry Krasner, who previously defended Black Lives Matter protesters as a lawyer. In 2017, Soros contributed a whopping $1.7 million to Krasner’s campaign to become district attorney of Philadelphia.
Following an easy victory, Soros’ man has helped make Philadelphia a murder hotspot. The sixth-largest city in America now has a higher murder rate than the nation’s two largest (Democrat-run) metropolises, New York City (443 as of Dec. 5) and Los Angeles (352 as of Nov. 27).
Krasner, who is currently in hot water after saying there is “no crisis of crime” in his fair city, has slashed incarceration time for prisoners by half, while the length of parole under supervision has been reduced by nearly two-thirds compared to the previous DA. This kid-gloves approach to crime has had the effect of keeping violent criminals on the street, a strange tendency that is conspicuous in many Democrat-run cities and states today.
Aside from murders, Democratic cities have become breeding grounds for a rash of other criminal offenses, like so-called ‘smash-and-grab’ flash mobs where bands of criminals enter stores and clear off the shelves before the police arrive. And in the event the police did arrive on time and make some arrests, the thugs would likely only receive a slap on the wrist.
In California, as the best example, stealing merchandise worth under $950 is considered a misdemeanor, which means that police probably won’t bother to investigate, and if they do, prosecutors won’t waste their time pursuing the cases.
Just this week, Fox News got a firsthand taste of the Democratic Party’s outrageous criminal reform policies when an individual reportedly set fire to the 50-foot Christmas tree outside of its Manhattan headquarters, allegedly causing $500,000 of damage.
Under reforms implemented by the state of New York last year, the suspect was not eligible to be held on bail. Instead, the individual was charged with several misdemeanors, including arson, criminal mischief, and reckless endangerment, before being duly released.
The Democratic Party’s lackadaisical attitude to crime and criminals is, to any logical person, unadulterated insanity sautéed in the juices of utopian thinking. Every city and town demands a tough, yet balanced, approach to misconduct; to think otherwise is delusional. Criminal behavior will not magically disappear by coddling outlaws, yet this seems to be the hill that the Democratic leaders have chosen to die on.
When it comes to the elections in 2022, the Democrats can expect to pay a heavy price for their foolhardiness at the polls. Only then will the healing process begin in the home of the brave.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
