FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2020 file photo, police work the scene where a 8-year-old girl was killed and two adults were shot when someone shot into a car in Chicago. In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even smaller Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Milwaukee, 2020 has been deadly not only because of the pandemic, but because gun violence is spiking. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP, File)
Police work the scene where a 8-year-old girl was killed and two adults were shot when someone shot into a car in Chicago. In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even smaller Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Milwaukee, 2020 has been deadly not only because of the pandemic, but because gun violence is spiking. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune via AP, File)

The following story on the spike in shootings and firearms-related murders from the Associated Press is 984 words long. Yet if you run a CTRL-F, you’ll find that nowhere in the story do the words “riot,” “jail,” “prison,” “bail” or “defund” appear.

Apparently the AP’s Corey Williams didn’t find the fact that the country saw nationwide rioting beginning on or about May 25 worthy of mention (though he does manage to a Penn professor who concedes looting occurred).

Neither does he include the fact that cities and states across the country opened their doors, releasing tens of thousands of allegedly non-violent prisoners, many of whom immediately went right back to work robbing, raping and murdering. And thanks to the spreading “bail reform” movement, suspects who are arrested for a range of crimes, including violent offenses, are being released, many within 24 hours.

Add to that the defunding and demonization of police officers around the country — which has lead to record attrition rates and hours long waits for 911 responses — and you have a the perfect storm of factors that have resulted in this year’s spike in violent crime.

So it’s been a continual struggle for the leading lights in the fourth estate to figure out what’s really been going on in this country in 2020. The poor dears.

Here’s the AP’s article . . .

By Corey Williams, AP

When Andre Avery drives his commercial truck through Detroit, he keeps his pistol close.

Avery, 57, grew up in the Motor City and is aware that homicides and shootings are surging, even though before the pandemic they were dropping in Detroit and elsewhere. His gun is legal, and he carries it with him for protection.

“I remain extremely alert,” said Avery, who now lives in nearby Belleville. “I’m not in crowds. If something looks a little suspicious, I’m out of there.”

In Detroit, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and even smaller Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Milwaukee, 2020 has been deadly not only because of the pandemic, but because gun violence is spiking.

Authorities and some experts say there is no one clear-cut reason for the spike. They instead point to social and economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 virus, public sentiment toward police following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody and a historic shortage of jobs and resources in poorer communities as contributing factors. It’s happening in cities large and small, Democrat and Republican-led.

Two years ago, Detroit had 261 homicides — the fewest in decades. The tally has hovered around there with about 786 shootings for a city of more than 672,000.

But with only a few days left in 2020, homicides already have topped 300, while non-fatal shootings are up more than 50% at more than 1,124 through the middle of December.

“I think the pandemic — COVID — has had a significant emotional impact on people across the country,” Detroit Police Chief James Craig said. “Individuals are not processing how they manage disputes. Whether domestics, arguments, disputes over drugs, there’s this quickness to use an illegally carried firearm.”

About 7,000 guns had been seized through mid-December in Detroit, with more than 5,500 arrests for illegal guns. There were 2,797 similar arrests last year.

“I’ve not seen a spike like this. But when it’s happening in other cities — some smaller — what do we all have in common?” Craig said of the slayings and shootings. “That’s when you start thinking about COVID.”

Washington, D.C., a city of about 700,000, has seen more than 187 homicides this year, eclipsing last year’s total by more than 20. Among the most horrible: A 15-month-old baby boy was shot to death during a drive-by shooting.

“We’re all sick of the heinous crimes in our city,” said Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Crime in parts of the U.S. dropped during the early weeks of the pandemic when stay-at-home orders closed businesses and forced many people to remain indoors.

University of Pennsylvania economics professor David Abrams said crime began to spike in May and June when initial orders in some states were lifted.

Some people “may have been a little stir crazy,” Abrams said. “At the end of May, George Floyd’s killing led to protests and looting. That led to police reform movements. Any of that could have potentially affected individual behavior and also the police response to that.”

Calls for some cities to reduce funding for police departments may have led some officers to take a less aggressive approach to policing, he added.

What the COVID-19 virus did was exacerbate all of the frustration and anger that some in Black and brown communities already were dealing with, according to retired Michigan State University sociology professor Carl Taylor. The virus has killed more than 300,000 people across the country, with minority communities hardest hit.

“The COVID has been absolutely the trigger of an everlasting bomb that’s exploding in many parts of our community,” he added.

Nowhere is that more true than inside people’s homes. “The COVID crisis and the economic shutdown is forcing people into their homes, creating conditions where people are more volatile,” said Kim Foxx, the top prosecutor in Cook County, which includes Chicago. And the most jarring statistic that illustrates that volatility is this: The number of domestic-related homicides in the nation’s third-largest city are up more than 60% compared with last year.

President Donald Trump claimed spiking crime was somehow related to massive protests over police brutality that swept the nation this year, but the majority of those protests were peaceful. Trump also claimed the crime was concentrated in Democratic-run cities, but there have been spikes in Republican-run cities as well. Federal agents and resources were poured into Detroit and a number of other cities this summer to help local authorities collar the rising crime rates.

By early October, more homicides — 363 — were recorded in Philadelphia than the 356 committed in 2019. There were 354 killings in New York through Oct. 11 — 90 more than at the same time last year.

Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 5, 165 homicides were recorded in Milwaukee, the most since 1991. And in Chicago, after three years of falling homicide numbers, the totals skyrocketed to 739 in mid-December compared with 475 at the same point last year.

Even smaller cities like Grand Rapids are suffering. By mid-December there were 35 homicides compared with 16 through all of 2019 and nine the year before. From this January to October, non-fatal shootings topped 200 in the city, which is home to about 200,000 people. Over the same period last year there were 131 non-fatal shootings.

“This year, is it because of COVID? The political polarization we have seen?” asked Sgt. Dan Adams, spokesman for the Grand Rapids Police Department. “This year has been a year like no other. I don’t think you can point to any one ‘why.’”

It is the same for other mid-sized cities. Last year, there were 18 homicides in Rockford, a city of about 170,000 people in northern Illinois. More than 30 have been killed so far this year, including three Saturday at a bowling alley.

“As we come to the end of this most difficult year and we look ahead at this New Year upon us, we know that this type of violence needs to stop,” Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said.

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80 COMMENTS

    • @FWW

      I don’t believe that Dan is celebrating the schlemiel’s at AP’s chutzpah…more, rather, their affection for bupkis (the original derivation of bupkis not the Anglicized meaning most of us intend)…

      Dan appears to be a member of the – it is better to know your opponent that to remain in blissful ignorance of their plans and tactics – way of thinking.

      “The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”

      Sun Tzu

      • “…but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.” ”

        Not to argue with Sun Tzu, but a crusty ol’ RSM once said, “If your position is so strong that the enemy canna get in, you canna get out.”

        • Hi Sam,

          Not to argue with your crusty old RSM…but, the word “unassailable” is not limited to a physical barrier or presence. It means: unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated. This can reference a belief, idea, creed, legal issue, physical position, etc.

          • ” This can reference a belief, idea, creed, legal issue, physical position, etc.”

            True, however…..(you knew there would be an “however”),

            Sun Tzu wrote about war, not philosophy; hence the relevance of the RSM,. N’est-ce pas?

            • …and you don’t have beliefs, plans or ideas in war?

              Sun Tsu wrote about ideas, beliefs and plans as well as the physical constraints of engaging in war. He was, and remains, a talented tactician who thought beyond the physical to encompass all of that which makes for waging war.

              Your RSM was viewing war through a narrow, subjective lens. He was not wrong…just incomplete…he was not considering the entirety of war…only his very small portion of it.

              • “…he was not considering the entirety of war…only his very small portion of it.”

                Yes, the RSM was addressing battle, not war.

                In battle, it is winning the point at hand, not the debate over philosophy of nation states, grand strategy, ideals. Win the battle and one can debate the finer points of the application of force. Lose, and nothing else matters (except, maybe, organizing for counterattack). That was the context of the RSM’s comment. Bringing people back on point; concentrate on winning the battle, not becoming impregnable.

              • Well, we’re narrowing your original comment’s scope a bit.

                Pretty sure the Generals and other Officers I served with were concerned with plans and strategies that encompassed more than the imminent battle. Those same Generals were not debating over the philosophy of nation states, rather, they were considering the finer points of the application of force as it applied to their planning. They did not have the luxury of making a shoddy battle plan and then second-guessing it after the results were tallied. War, and battles thereof, are not the place to “try this and see what happens”. Pretty sure the War College teaches Sun Tsu and von Clausewitz in an effort to teach our military strategists and tacticians how to think of all the details…not just the next battle.

                Again, your RSM was not wrong…as a senior enlisted he was concerned with his here and now. Generals, modern and ancient, are / were concerned with the whole campaign of which battles are / were only the most frenetic part.

              • “Pretty sure the Generals and other Officers I served with were concerned with plans and strategies that encompassed more than the imminent battle.”

                Of course. They weren’t being advised by a Regimental Sergeant Major, either. Nor were generals concerned with battle at the fire team level. But despite all the fancy thinking and planning, it isn’t elegant strategy that wins wars; it is brute force and awkwardness at the sharp point (which you know).

                Politics and philosophy teach that there is nothing that is unassailable. For every point, there will be a counterpoint. For every grand strategy, there is a counter strategy. For every plan, there is an opposing plan, idea, ideal, tactic, unknown unknowns. The slogan, “If you would have peace, be prepared for war” is an example. A strategy of sending peace ambassadors to the four corners of the world is countered effectively by a strategy of annihilating everyone who opposes peace. “Join the Army, see the world, meet new people; kill them.”

              • @Sam

                No, I served in the USA…we don’t have RSM’s (not since around 1920’ish).

                I disagree with your assessment that General officers are not concerned with results at the platoon, squad or fireteam levels. If we fail at our level then everything above us in the hierarchy is toast as well. The expression “boots on the ground” is a truism proven repeatedly during the last 240 plus years of our history.

                Brute force without a sound tactical plan and lacking an overall strategy does not win battles, much less wars…sharp points or not. It involves a concept you may have heard of…”Teamwork”. The O’s provided the brains and we E’s provided the brawn…discipline was the grease that allowed it all to work.

                I found your parting quote offensive to myself and most people I served with. Like many young people at the time (late 1960’s) I joined the Army to serve my country. As a 91B, I worked to provide basic health care to our troops and many third world indigenous peoples wherever I happened to be stationed at the time…neither I, nor my immediate brothers in arms, met new people and killed them as you so cavalierly put it.

                G’nite Sam

              • “Brute force without a sound tactical plan and lacking an overall strategy does not win battles, much less wars…”

                That is precisely what “won” WW2, whether US or Russian. We were not brilliant warriors, but overwhelming equipped/manned.

                The RSM I mentioned was a guest speaker way back when I was a member of the Ranger company of our ROTC battalion in college. Of course, we were not real Rangers, but for ROTC, we were more thoroughly trained than the norm. All our officer and enlisted cadre held Ranger tabs, so we benefited from actual combat vets.

                Regarding General Staff interest in the success of a squad or fire team, a review of decisions regarding the Hürtgen forest, the Bulge, and the refusal of Eisenhower/Bradley to allow Patton to close the German escape route out of the Bulge (instead, both generals adopted Pershing’s “tactic” of trying to annihilate the Germans, rather than conserve men and material). Indeed, one could even point to both generals ignoring the lessons of the Ardennes. So here, I posit that strategy, not battle tactics was the guiding factor for the generals.

                But, to repeat myself (which I love), the RSM was talking about activity at the pointy end, and about seeking perfection beyond reason. And one must not forget the Spartans who held an unassailable position, one where the Persians could not get in. The Spartans were betrayed, and the Persians finally penetrated, making it impossible for the Spartans to get out before they were destroyed.

          • “Best thread I’ve read in quite awhile. Carry on gentleman.”

            We may be talking past each other; not sure there is much left.

    • If certain individuals did not have an agenda the heading would have been…

      “AP Can’t Put a Finger on the Reason for the Spike in Murders in the U.S.”

    • Somebody has to warn the nation about the communist take over happening in this nation. They warned us they were going to do it 60 years ago but nobody believed yhem, now their doing it.

  3. I don’t think it’s very fair to blame bail reform for this. If a suspect should not be released because he’s a danger to the community, he should be held because he’s a danger to the community, not because he can’t raise money for bail.

    • I supported bail reform. But the three L’s perverted that like everything else they touch. It was never meant for violent felony suspects. They supported the complete emptying of the jails.

      • What was really fun up here was emptying the prisons for covid concerns (and trying to close them down) of ‘nonviolent’ offenders and using the crimes they plea bargained for instead of the crime they were arrested for. For anyone outside of NY CA MA and really liberal jurisdictions it’s even worse than it sounds.

  6. Translation: White Liberals who live in far away safe neighborhoods, and who supported releasing all jail prisoners. Can’t understand why the people, who live where the criminals will most likely go, are the ones buying guns.

    White Liberals are disconnected from reality. And they are disconnected from the policies that they advocate for other people, and their negative consequences.

    • “White Liberals are disconnected from reality.”

      But their intentions are good; and their feelings pure.

        • “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Samuel Johnson 1775”

          True, but it’s for our own good, right?

        • Another “road to hell” quote:

          “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…”

          C.S. Lewis writing as Screwtape

          • “C.S. Lewis writing as Screwtape”

            I think Lewis was illustrating the phrase, “Satan can appear as an angel of light.”

        • In a greater context, perhaps. A bit more context may clarify his point. For the uninitiated, Lewis is writing from the perspective of a senior demon, Screwtape, who is writing letters to his nephew, Wormwood, teaching the fine art of temptation.

          A larger portion of the text:

          “All the healthy and out-going activities which we want him to avoid can be inhibited and nothing given in return, so that at least he may say, as one of my own patients said on his arrival down here, ‘I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.’

          “The Christians describe the Enemy as one ‘without whom Nothing is strong’. And Nothing is very strong: strong enough to steal away a man’s best years not in sweet sins but in a dreary flickering of the mind over it knows not what and knows not why, in the gratification of curiosities so feeble that the man is only half aware of them, in drumming of fingers and kicking of heels, in whistling tunes that he does not like, or in the long, dim labyrinth of reveries that have not even lust or ambition to give them a relish, but which, once chance association has started them, the creature is too weak and fuddled to shake off.

          “You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy.

          “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…”

          • “For the uninitiated, Lewis is writing from the perspective of a senior demon, Screwtape, ”

            I read many of his books, the least satisfying was “Shadowlands”. It really had no ending, no resolution, at a time I needed that. “Abolition of Man” was perhaps my most challenging to read.

    • Luckily for Albany they get to see the results first-hand as it is their shops looted and cars/houses broken into. Ironically the crime center for the local area actually got better (with some federal assistance) and is largely speaking out against bail reform as enacted. Doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of swaying the governor or legislature but at least the worst of it is falling on those that voted for it and the NYC refugees that figured Albany would be safe.

  7. Who goes to AP for news? They are part of the CCP propaganda network along with CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, et al, hell RT is more honest than that bunch and they are horrible!

    • So their “news” has to be filtered through Marxist rhetoric. It needs to have a political perspective.

  8. I so glad none of these violent scumbags will contract covid 19, we couldn’t have that on our conscience. Thank you Dems and Rinos

    • “And they still insist on calling themselves “journalists”!?”

      “Journalist” is French for “Mindless acolyte”.

  11. “It’s happening in cities large and small, Democrat and Republican-led.”
    “…but there have been spikes in Republican-run cities as well.”

    They *really* want you to know that this isn’t a democrat city problem. That’s why every city they listed was…a democrat city. Oh they tried to get a republican one. Their small town example was Grand Rapids, MI which I believe is fairly even partisan-wise, but they have a democrat mayor, and they “voted” for Joe.

    • Yeah, the made a point of mentioning the Republican led cities where they were having a spike in crime and then they didn’t specify any. Soooo… what are they?

    • I hardly see Grand Rapids, MI as a small town, small city maybe. To me, a small town can see the stop sign in the center of town from the edge of town. Of course, I also believe that if it has a stop light its too big.

      • “To me, a small town can see the stop sign in the center of town from the edge of town.”

        Way back when, while stationed in Colorado Springs, took a leisurely drive east on US24 to see what was out there, somewhere. Came upon a marker announcing, “Falcon”, which I guessed was a town nearby. Passing the marker going east, didn’t notice much of anything that looked like a town. IIRC, there was a cross street. Coming back westbound, there was no sign visible announcing “Falcon”. However, I did see the back of the sign I first saw. The sign was blank, painted white. The place was so small it had only one sign, printed on only one side of the sign.

  12. The NYPD had to disband its Street Crimes unit due to Mayor DeBlahzio’s ‘Defund the Police’ initiative. That unit was directly responsible for the apprehension of armed, violent felons…..and AP cannot figure out why violent crime has increased.

    I try to be nice here on TTAG, but I just have to say this:

    The AP is staffed by writers with no moral or ethical foundation. Their modus operadi is to lie, distort, and obfuscate to get published and to get headlines. They push propaganda rather than information because they believe their causes are more important than facts, more important than people. They are so totally corrupted they qualify as evil.

    OK. Now, I will try to be nice, again…but not to the AP.

    • @PELS

      Do you mind if I copy and use your excellent description of AP in an e-mail message to my usual group of misfits? Your avatar will receive full credit for it.

      Respectfully,
      OGiM

        • Good writing deserves recognition and to be put to use (when someone says it better than I ever could…ask for permission to use their words).

          That’s a “Yes” I take it?

          • Thank you. I just hit “Send” to my group of retiree shooting buddies. Pretty sure they will appreciate your words as much as I do.

  13. Whoever typed that out was extremely careful to avoid certain words, weren’t they? That must have been a lot of effort on their parts.

    Definitely some Newspeak going on there, the lie is what isn’t written.

    • Years back the AP put out a memorandum telling their contributors to no longer use the term illegal alien. They were to use undocumented immigrant/worker instead confirming their biased agenda.

  14. “AP Can’t Put a Finger on the Reason for the Spike in Shootings and Murders in the U.S.”

    Its because they have their fingers busy spreading their cheeks so they can ram their head up their ass, thats where they get their story ideas. Most of it’s just a bunch of shit.

  15. Question 1 (to the AP): How many (a) felons convicted of violent crimes and (b) persons charged with violent felonies have been released because of COVID-19?
    Question 2: Is the increase in crimes highest in the communities into which these persons have been released?

    The answers to these questions should “put a finger on” the spike.

  16. Lots of murders in lots of places. But y’know, I just can’t put my finger on what all those places have in common.

    • “Lots of murders in lots of places. But y’know, I just can’t put my finger on what all those places have in common.”

      Trump.

      Don’t you pay attention?

    • Some of them are Republican-run, the AP tells us. Don’t ask them which ones. It’s a secret. Just trust them.

      • “Well, they do vote more reliably after death, making the murders quite a net gain…”

        Can’t see that as a “gain”, rather it is a continuation. It is interesting that we talk about “dead people”, “deceased persons”. When a death occurs, does a person cease to be a person? Maybe there should be a legal transition where the remains of a person are tagged “corpse” for any description after death. Should there be a mandate that “dead people”, or “dead persons” no longer be permitted, but only “corpse”? Can you imagine reports of a crime resulting in X number of corpses?

  21. The AP has problems putting their finger on the source of Liberally applied problems? Gee, their finger must be defective…. I’m lending them one of mine as we speak !!

  22. You folks have posted many good comments on this article, especially the foreign language and anatomical references. The, er, “journalists” in question should take note of your creative language skills. And your opinion of their general utility in our society. Cretins. Good journalism is exceedingly rare these days.

  23. They have to be pretty dang stupid or paid a lot to not know the causes. Number one is that people are fed up. They have tolerated the government mucking it up and not accomplishing anything. Now they feel it is time for them to take action themselves. This concerns all the law abiding citizens. The gangs and others running amuck is on them. But they need to know that the same goes for them. When the law abiding public gets fed up with them too, the motto will be, “eliminate the problem”.

  24. 30+ million guns sold so far this year, 7 million new gun owners! Lock and load defend your rights! Cars kill more people but can’t defend you, and they’re not going to ban them! Time to resist the commies!

  25. Aren’t these the same rocket scientists that couldn’t figure out why prison populations were so high. despite historically low crime rates?

Comments are closed.