On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced he would send federal law enforcement to combat a rising tide of violent crime in American cities run by Democrats. According to a recent poll, most Americans support this effort, even though Democrats have attempted to demonize it as an “invasion.”
In a recent Rasmussen poll, most likely U.S. voters said yes (55 percent) when faced with the question, “Should federal law enforcement officials be used to fight the growing level of violent crime in several major cities since the cities appear unable or unwilling to handle the problem themselves?” Only 36 percent opposed the federal anti-crime help.
The vast majority of self-identified Republicans (80 percent) agreed with sending federal troops to fight crime in U.S. cities, while Democrats opposed the measure by a 53 percent to 39 percent margin. Almost half of unaffiliated voters (48 percent) supported Trump’s policy, while 39 percent opposed it.
Rasmussen also asked likely voters whether “government policies and practices encourage violent crime in some cities and states more than others.” Most voters (51 percent) said government policies and practices do encourage violent crime in some cities and states more than others. About a quarter (24 percent) disagreed, while another quarter (24 percent) said they were undecided.
Leftists have condemned Trump’s decision to send federal troops to combat violent crime, with The New York Times running an op-ed denouncing the president’s “occupation of American cities.”
However, “Trump is not sending federal agents to storm Democratic-controlled cities,” as Andrew McCarthy, a National Review columnist and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote at Fox News. “The president is beefing up existing federal-state partnerships (contributing federal agents, plus federal funding so the states and municipalities can contribute more police) to assist in quelling the murderous brutality that is making swaths of cities unlivable for the Americans who reside there.”
Following the George Floyd protests which devolved into deadly riots that destroyed black lives, black livelihoods, and black monuments, violent crime has spiked in cities across America. New York City, for instance, experienced a 130 percent increase in the number of shootings across the city between June 1 and June 30. Murders, burglaries, and auto thefts also shot up. Extreme calls for the defunding and abolition of police departments have chilled law enforcement, likely contributing to the lawlessness.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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