How The Media Are Lying Right Now: ‘Violent Crime Drops’ Edition
A recent Axios article highlights a significant drop in violent crime rates in major U.S. cities, which challenges narratives used by former President Trump and his supporters who have linked Democrats to rising crime since 2020. This data appears to support Kamala Harris, the newly chosen Democratic presidential nominee, who is attempting to rebrand herself as tough on crime, distancing herself from her previous stance that advocated for defunding the police.
However, skepticism surrounds these claims, as several major cities, including New York, have reportedly failed to report their crime statistics fully. Critics argue that while “violent crime” may be declining, the broader category of “crime” encompasses a range of offenses, including looting and robbery, which may still be on the rise. The contrasting definitions of crime focus on the distinction between violent acts versus property and other crimes, raising questions about overall public safety.
Axios headline, April 12: “New data shows violent crime dropping sharply in major U.S. cities.”
That assertion, the article merrily stated, “puts a serious dent in one of the most frequently used lines of attack by former President Trump and his allies, who have sought to tie Democrats to the issue since 2020.” And it comes surely by coincidence as freshly anointed Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris gives herself a makeover as a hard ass on crime rather than the effusive “defund the police” candidate she ran as in 2020.
To be fair, the claim that the intense Democrat-inspired and -excused crime wave of the past four years has been on a steady downward slope isn’t exclusively about shoring up Harris. Such stories periodically popped up before.
CNN, June 10: “Violent crime is down and the US murder rate is plunging, FBI statistics show.”
NBC News, June 11: “New FBI stats show ‘historic’ declines in violent crime rate, with murder showing sharpest drop.”
That’s quickly becoming a talking point among Democrats hoping voters forget about the truth as they shove Harris in as president. White House press secretary and voodoo doll Karine Jeanne-Pierre repeated the “violent crime has plunged” claim twice this week.
For a number of reasons, it’s a lie, starting with what Axios admitted in its own report — that some states and cities, including the biggest one, New York, aren’t disclosing their violent crime numbers, or they fail to submit them to organizations like the FBI. It’s similar to when Democrats and the media claim that more violent crime is taking place in red states than blue ones, while deliberately concealing that it’s concentrated in Democrat-run metropolises with elected Democrat prosecutors and mayors.
But more importantly, Democrats and their co-conspirators in the media are deliberately specifying “violent crime,” rather than simply “crime,” for a reason. Violent crime, broadly speaking, includes murder, homicide, and assault. By contrast, crime crime includes all violations of the law, such as looting, carjacking, robbery, and destruction of property. That’s the difference between being raped and having your car stolen, the difference between someone being murdered and a convenience store being raided.
True, a normal person would rather be pickpocketed than sexually assaulted, but the choice isn’t either-or. The choice is safe or not. Safety isn’t solely about physical harm. It’s about establishing peace and security, not just the absence of violence.
That brings us to the Council on Criminal Justice, a left-leaning nonprofit that none other than the Harris-Biden administration has partnered with to guide its agenda on gun restrictions. The CCJ also produces reports on crime trends of all kinds. It just so happens to have published one in late July.
Some key findings in that report:
— “There were … more nonresidential burglaries in the first half of 2024 than during the same period five years earlier.” Nonresidential burglaries — theft from places of business — have also marginally decreased from the previous three years. But going back to the same time period in 2019, before the year of BLM and Patron Saint George Floyd, it’s still up just shy of 15 percent.
— “Motor vehicle thefts more than doubled during the timeframe …” Car theft decreased in the first half of 2024 compared to the previous year, but it remains nearly 30 percent higher than in 2021.
— “[S]hoplifting is 10% higher.” Shoplifting has increased each year of the Harris-Biden presidency. Comparing the first half of 2021 to the first half of this year, it’s a 41 percent increase.
In short, all of the carjacking, looting, and theft is still happening at a higher rate under the Harris-Biden presidency than before. It’s up, not down.
That’s why Democrats and the media are so particular about “violent crime.” They’d rather not talk about the rest.
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