Homicides rose by 250% in Los Angeles, and the number of shooting victims rose by 56%, during the week ending June 6, according to the Los Angeles Police Department — the same week as the Black Lives Matter protests and riots.
The week of 5/31 to 6/6, homicides went up 250% and victims shot went up 56% compared to the previous week.
The past 24 hrs has seen 4 shootings, one of those resulting in a homicide. Detectives are following leads to ID & arrest the suspects—but we’re also asking for your help pic.twitter.com/UXwZD7pPze
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) June 9, 2020
The surge in deadly crimes in L.A. mirrored similar reports elsewhere in the country for the week of May 31 to June 6, when riots and looting exploded alongside “peaceful protests” against the killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In Chicago, for example, May 31 marked the single deadliest 24-hour period in 60 years, with 18 people killed.
Crime escalated, in part, because police who normally would have been patrolling neighborhoods were pulled off the beat to secure downtown areas and commercial districts targeted by looters.
Ironically, L.A.’s grim week coincided with Mayor Eric Garcetti’s announcement that the LAPD budget would be cut by up to $150 million, which is more than two percent of the current total. His announcement encouraged protesters who support calls to “defund” or “abolish” the police.
The money, he said, was to be “reinvested” in “communities of color” — the same communities enduring a crime wave during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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