Anarchy in America is an illusion

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.rocanews.com/blog-posts/anarchy-in-america-is-an-illusion

I’m not used to reporting from conflict zones, but after Donald Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr declared New York City an “anarchist jurisdiction” on September 21, the GOP war against reality finally arrived in the five boroughs.

According to the White House’s twisted version of reality, blue state cities like New York, Seattle, and Portland are awash in anarchist violence while Democratic lawmakers urge on the unrest in an attempt to undermine Trump’s re-election campaign. Trump’s made-for-television declaration of ‘anarchy’ is a cynical, last-ditch effort to distract Americans from the president’s total failure to manage the coronavirus pandemic.

As a New Yorker, it’s also complete nonsense.

Across the country, cities are struggling under the coronavirus-worsened burden of a year unlike any other. On one side, large-scale lockdowns and social distancing have led to a sharp decline in property and other nonviolent crimes. On the other, violent crimes are up - with gun violence doubling and homicides jumping 40% in New York City - driven at least in part by increases in domestic violence and pandemic-induced joblessness, according to crime reporting experts like the Justice Tech Lab at Texas A&M.

Better understanding why violence is rising takes additional resources and funding, and Trump’s pledge to strip funding from cities like New York and Seattle sharply restricts police and city officials’ ability to fully grasp the root causes of unrest. In his attempt to create a social panic, Trump also purposefully ignores his hometown’s decades-long decline in violent crime rates.

*snip*