“Squad” member and ultra-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is facing backlash for calling the reaction to surging crime rates and a 64 percent spike in New York shootings “hysteria.”
The lawmaker made the comments Sunday while discussing crime spikes across the country, according to the Daily Mail.
“We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases,” Ocasio-Cortez said during the Zoom meeting with Rep. Jamaal Bowman.
“Now, I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much, but I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context,” she continued.
Indeed, shootings have skyrocketed more than 60 percent in Ocasio-Cortez’s home city of New York compared to last year.
Similarly, the number of shootings in Portland has gone up 126 percent, and in Los Angeles up 51 percent.
Other cities have also seen homicide rates surge, including Atlanta (41 percent), Philadelphia (35 percent) and Portland (533 percent), according to police department data.
Meghan McCain, co-host of “The View” said it’s okay for people to be concerned about rising murder rates.
“Facts are stubborn things. There is a huge homicide crisis in the country. And whether or not AOC likes it, it’s okay for people to be concerned about a homicide spike,” she said. “I think that’s going to be very effective going into the midterms.”
Glenn Greenwald, a journalist, blasted AOC for voting to increase Capitol Police funding while belittling the growing crime rate.
“AOC is mocking ordinary people as ‘hysterical’ who are afraid of violent crime in their neighborhood: people who, unlike her, don’t have reams of private security,” he tweeted. “Yet she just acted to ensure $2 billion more in spending on the police that protects her.”
After a shooting that took place in Times Square over the weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a new plan Monday to increase police presence in the area to ensure the safety of tourists.
“Now, we’ve seen patterns in Times Square that we are going to address very, very aggressively,” he said in a news conference.
The plan will place 50 more officers in the area “to make sure that anyone who goes to Times Square knows they’re safe.” Some of these officers will be plainclothes.
“We are going to flood the area with additional police officers,” De Blasio said, adding “there’s no question in my mind this is going to work.”
