Former President Trump sat down with “Fox & Friends” enterprise reporter Lawrence Jones at CPAC in Dallas, arguing that in order to curb crime, “you have to give police back their authority.”
During a wide-ranging interview that is available now on Fox Nation, Trump pointed out that violent crime is currently soaring in “Democrat states,” including Illinois and New York, specifically in cities like Chicago and New York City.
Trump noted that Chicago is “very bad” and pointed out that the city experienced a deadly July 4th weekend, which, according to the Chicago Sun Times, was “the deadliest and most violent weekend” in the city so far this year with more than 100 people shot and at least 19 killed.
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So far in Chicago in 2021, at least 1587 people have been shot— an 11% increase compared to 2020 and a 58% increase compared to 2019, according to the Chicago Police Department’s crime statistics for the week ending July 4.
Trump also noted that crime in New York is “through the roof” because there is “no more cash bail” and “all they do is go after Republicans.”
Under previous New York law, prosecutors would determine whether to make a bail recommendation or agree to have the defendant released on their own recognizance. The case judge would then make a determination. Defense attorneys would typically make arguments that bail would be inappropriate, or should be set at a low amount, which judges would take into consideration.
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Under the current law, courts are now prohibited from setting any monetary bail or keeping defendants in custody before trial in almost every type of misdemeanor case, and for a long list of felonies as well.
In New York City, there has been an 8.5% increase in murders year-to-date as of July 4 and a 37.8% spike in shooting incidents, according to data provided by the NYPD.
“New York is totally out of control,” Trump told the Fox Nation host.
The police debate has been at the top of the American conscience since a White, now-former police officer in Minneapolis, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the neck of George Floyd for more than nine minutes in May 2020; Floyd later died.
Chauvin has since been convicted of murder, but Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and ignited the “defund the police” movement. Congress is currently mulling sweeping police reform legislation in an effort to hold officers more accountable for misconduct.
Trump argued that police can stop the crime surge, but “the police are afraid they’re going to lose everything if they go after somebody because some bad acts were done and because of those bad acts, they’ve destroyed these police forces.”
According to a Fox News poll conducted in April during the final days of Chauvin’s trial, found that by a nearly 2-1 margin, 62-33 percent, registered voters disagree with reducing police funding and moving it to other areas.
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Fox News’ Victoria Balara, Ronn Blitzer and Peter Aitken contributed to this report.