Far-left Democrat Ilhan Omar continues to push “Defund the Police” positions as crime skyrockets in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis had the fifth-highest murder rate in the nation behind other cities such as New Orleans, Baltimore, Birmingham, and St. Louis, a recent study showed.
With 96 homicides last year, Minneapolis almost tied a record of 97 dating back to 1997. So far, murders have decreased this year, but residents are not considered safe. The majority of all other crime categories have risen, including vehicle theft by 32%, larceny by 30%, and carjackings by 21% for the year ending Aug. 7, Fox News reported.
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“Minneapolis is a case study in what happens when municipal leaders decide to demonize the police and criminal justice system for their political advantage,” Manhattan Institute fellow Charles Fain Lehman told Fox News. “As in many other big cities, homicides and other violence spiked in the city following the murder of George Floyd and rise of the ‘Defund the Police’ movement, a movement to which Minneapolis uniquely capitulated.”
Floyd was killed in 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Two accompanying officers were convicted of civil rights violations and sentenced to approximately 3 years each.
Data recently provided to the City Council shows 1 in 150 black residents are shooting victims, the Star Tribune reported. This compares to 1 in 3,768 white victims. Yet white people are 60% of the population compared to 19% of black people.
The city also has a 230% increase in gunfire compared to 2019. This is measured through microphones placed in high-crime parts of the city, which recorded 12,849 bullets fired this year. Three years ago, the number was 3,888.
Omar was a leading champion of the “Defund the Police” movement after Floyd’s death, tweeting that it was “one of reimagining the current police system to build an entity that does not violate us, while relocating funds to invest in community services. Let’s be clear, the people who now oppose this, have always opposed calls for systematic change.”
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Omar won a tight race for the Minnesota Democratic primary, one centrist opponent Don Samuels used to highlight the violence ravaging Minneapolis. Samuels, a city councilman, opposed cutting the police budget and forced the city to increase staffing levels by 741 officers per its charter requirements.
Billionaire activist George Soros donated $500,000 for the failed campaign to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.
