Democrats Promote Soft-on-Crime Prosecutors as Murders Surge

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding crime rates:

“The national murder rate just recorded its biggest jump in more than a century. In some cities, homicides have set all-time records.

“From Albuquerque to Milwaukee to Memphis to Des Moines, city officials reported more murders last year than in any prior year.

“In my hometown of Louisville, homicides this year have now broken last year’s all-time record.

“All last year, liberal politicians and activists made absurd and false claims about law enforcement. ‘We need to completely dismantle’ local police. ‘Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist.’

“A left-wing messaging campaign has spent a year and a half trying to chill law enforcement and policing. A network of liberal district attorneys around the country are matching that rhetoric with incredibly soft-on-crime practices behind the scenes. And the predictable result of all this has been a collapse in public safety.

“Last month, a man killed six people and injured dozens more at a Christmas market in Wisconsin, just weeks after he was released on bail for another set of violent charges.

“This criminal had already been arrested and locked up in neighboring Milwaukee County, but he was let out by a liberal D.A. who remarked several years ago that, ‘Is there going to be an individual I divert, or I put into treatment program, who’s going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.’

“There’s now a whole bunch of grieving families in Waukesha who have strong feelings about that ‘approach.’

“Here’s a headline from New York City, just this week. ‘Man busted for assault set free, allegedly beats two random NYC women – then cut loose again.’

“Smash-and-grabs, flash mob thefts, and carjackings are increasingly facts of life in multiple major cities.

“But against this backdrop, Democrats just want to keep getting weaker on crime and softer on public safety.

“We expect to vote today on the nomination of Rachel Rollins to be a U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

“Ms. Rollins has spent years in her current job as a D.A. pushing the idea that the state should wipe entire categories of crimes off the list of things worth prosecuting. She’d rather her office not go after trespassers, shoplifters, or even those found possessing drugs with the intent to distribute.

“This soft-on-crime advocacy should have earned the nominee a pink slip. Instead, President Biden’s giving her a promotion.

“I urge Senators to vote no.

“Law-abiding Americans don’t want prosecutors who refuse to prosecute.

“They don’t want city jails equipped with revolving doors. They need leaders who defend the rule of law.”