The Department of Justice awarded millions in taxpayer-funded grants in 2021 to crime reduction nonprofit groups tied to financier George Soros and liberal district attorneys whose policies critics say have led to a spike in urban violent crime.
The Los Angeles-based Urban Peace Institute, a group credited with laying the groundwork for District Attorney George Gascon’s soft-on-crime reforms, was one of the groups that received a $1 million grant from the DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Assistance in 2021. The UPI signed a public letter shortly after Gascon assumed office in December 2020 hailing the liberal DA for enacting “sweeping reforms” such as drastically scaling back cash bail, not prosecuting low-level crime, and eliminating sentencing enhancements for violent offenders.
UPI said it would use its Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program grant to train six “violence intervention workers” who would “effectively interrupt the transmission of violence” in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.
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UPI said the initiative would reduce violent crime in Watts by at least 10%, but records compiled by the Los Angeles Times show that there was a fivefold increase in the number of homicides in the neighborhood during the first 11 months of 2021 compared to the same period in 2018.
The Justice Department grants were first reported by Just The News.
UPI co-founder Connie Rice also serves on the board of the Advancement Project, a charity that works to “combat the systemic racism of the criminal legal system” and has received over $3.2 million from Soros’s Open Society Foundations since 2016.
Homicides in Los Angeles increased 46% during Gascon’s first year in office, alongside a spike in assaults, robberies, and home invasions. Soros contributed more than $2.5 million to a political action committee that supported Gascon’s successful 2020 election campaign.
Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Lili Bosse recently compared Los Angeles under Gascon’s watch to Gotham City after her locality, which is 71% Democratic, voted unanimously to support a recall of the liberal district attorney.
Gascon defended himself against the recall effort in a recent press conference attended by other Soros-backed prosecutors from across the country.
“This is not about keeping Angelenos safe, it’s about a political power grab by well-funded political operatives who have fought reforms — on juvenile detention, mental health treatment, police accountability in fatal police shootings, and the death penalty — for decades,” Gascon said.
The Soros-funded, New York City-based Center for Court Innovation also received a $1 million grant from the Justice Department’s Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program in 2021 to reduce crime in the Bronx proactively by employing a mix of public safety, violence prevention, and public health strategies.
“The project will address the deep-rooted and generational issues of community violence, specifically territorial gang violence and youth-driven crime in the catchment area, which includes multiple public housing developments where rival crews cause violence and crime,” the CCI said in its grant application. “The project will also address the street drug use activity and correlated crime.”
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The Bronx saw a 35% jump in homicides in 2021 compared to the year prior.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who recently came under fire for ordering prosecutors to stop seeking prison time for a vast swath of criminal offenses, is a partner in the CCI’s Manhattan Justice Program.
