Trump Attacks ‘Racist’ NY AG Letitia James in Fact-Challenged Statement Claiming ‘All Time High’ in New York Crime

Ken MeyerApr 18th, 2022, 1:30 pm
 
donald trump

Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images.

Former President Donald Trump went on the offensive against New York Attorney General Letitia James by claiming the state has been inundated with crime during her tenure.

Trump marked Easter Sunday by throwing barbs at James while she moves to hold him in contempt for failing to comply with her office’s investigation into his business empire. It was in this holiday greeting that Trump (once again) called James a “racist” while providing no evidence the AG  — who is Black — is targeting him because he’s White.

On Monday, Trump decided to up the ante with a much broader tirade against “the racist and highly partisan Attorney General of New York State.”

With the horrible Subway Shootings and Violent Crime in New York being at an all-time high, where people are afraid to walk the streets, the racist and highly partisan Attorney General of New York State, failed Gubernatorial candidate Letitia James, should focus her efforts on saving the State of New York and ending its reputation as a Crime Capital of the World, instead of spending millions of dollars and utilizing a large portion of her office in going after Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization (for many years!), who have probably done more for New York than virtually any other person or group, including employing many wonderful people and paying millions and millions of dollars in taxes. This never-ending Witch Hunt must stop. We don’t need racist political hacks going after good, hardworking people for highly partisan political gain. The people of our Country see right through it all, and won’t take this Radical Left “sickness” anymore. Make New York Great Again!

Trump’s statement also links to a highly-curated clip of James posted by his son, Eric Trump.

In terms of Trump’s claim that violent crime in New York is at an “all-time high,” criminal justice statistics have been trending upwards in New York City despite efforts to beef up NYPD law enforcement. This marks a continuation of increasing crime rates during the coronavirus pandemic.

However, crime is still well down from its peak decades ago. The New York Times recently held an interview with John Jay College Criminal Justice Professor Christopher Herrmann, who spoke of how anger and randomness have been the recent recurring motives behind crime, as opposed to gang violence or theft New York City contended with in past decades. Hermann noted that crime remains “way below…the doom and gloom of the 1990s.”

Hermann’s argument was echoed by New York Daily News Police Bureau Chief Rocco Parascandola, who, in an interview posted Sunday, spoke to Mediaite about the manhunt for Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James.

“Obviously, we’re not anywhere near the level we were at at the height of the crack era in the late 80s and early 90s,” Parascandola told Mediaite Editor-in-Chief Aidan McLaughlin. He further argued that New York has moved far enough away from the crack epidemic’s crime surge that it’s more practical now to measure crime rates against the rates from 2019, before the pandemic.

UPDATE – 1:53 p.m. ET: James’ office has issued a response:

Like all Americans, Donald J. Trump is entitled to defend himself in court. However, this attorney general will not be bullied or intimidated by the former president. The courts have ruled time and time again that the office’s investigation into Mr. Trump and his financial dealings is legitimate and lawful, and Attorney General James will continue to follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Nothing will dissuade her from pursuing justice.

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