Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) decided to weigh in why there has been a massive increase in crime in New York City, blaming it on people needing to "feed their child" rather than the effort to defund the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
During a virtual town hall on Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez attacked the NYPD and claimed that the reported $1 billion budget cuts to the department "aren't really real":
I think there is something about this uptick in crime -- Let me make something super clear for everyone: The New York City Police Department has not been defunded, even with these budgetary changes that were proposed in the city council.A.) They’re not fully enacted.B.) They aren’t a real $1 billion in cuts.C.) These cuts aren’t really real.And again, they haven’t even happened yet. Keep in mind that this uptick in crime that is happening right now -- this is with a $6 billion annual police budget. So our $6 billion budget has not prevented this uptick in crime.
She continued by giving the reasons she thought were responsible for the uptick in crime in the city:
Do we think this has to do with the fact that there’s record unemployment in the United States right now? The fact that people are at a level of economic desperation that we have not seen since the Great Recession?Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren't paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent and so they go out, and they need to feed their child and they don't have money so ... they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry.
