A Larry Krasner Christmas Happy holidays from Philadelphia’s criminals to a wedding party and even a U.S. Congresswoman.
On the unseasonably warm night of Dec. 10, a groom stepped outside of his wedding reception for a breath of fresh air. Two men saw him. One drew a handgun, and they demanded the groom’s Rolex watch. The robbery occurred downtown a short stroll away from the Liberty Bell.
Welcome to the holiday season in Larry Krasner’s Philadelphia. Days before the groom’s ambush, the progressive district attorney claimed that “we don’t have a crisis of lawlessness, we don’t have a crisis of crime, we don’t have a crisis of violence.” The remarks infuriated Philadelphia residents, who are the victims of the crime he said doesn’t exist.
Philadelphia has seen a record 544 homicides so far this year, up from 347 in the entirety of 2019. Police have recorded some 1,785 nonfatal shootings this year. More than 84% of the victims of the gun violence in 2021 were black, according to the Philadelphia Office of the Controller.
Police data also shows some 2,283 gun robberies as of Dec. 19, a 28.6% increase over the same period last year. Retail theft is up more than 20% this year, and auto theft more than 15%, with nearly 11,000 vehicles stolen.
The crime surge has spared no district. On Dec. 7, robbers stole Rolex watches from a man and his son as they left the Philadelphia Four Seasons hotel. One of the criminals “had the gun right to my stomach area,” victim Drew Williams told the local Action News. Police said Wednesday that no suspects have been arrested in either the Four Seasons or wedding crimes.
The Four Seasons heist was one of some 25 armed robberies in the posh Center City neighborhood in the first half of December, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. But poor and minority neighborhoods have borne the true brunt, though those crimes receive less media attention.
Even as we were writing this, a report came over the wire that U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon was carjacked and robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday afternoon shortly after finishing a meeting at FDR Park in Philly. Ms. Scanlon was walking back to her car when she was approached by two armed men who demanded her car keys and personal belongings, according to a spokeswoman. She handed over her belongings, including personal and government cell phones—and the two men drove away in her 2017 Acura MDX.
The crime surge is a direct result of Mr. Krasner’s soft-on-criminals policy. He has bragged that the county jail population decreased 40% in his first three years in office. Police data show property crime is up nearly 7% for 2021 compared to 2017, the year before Mr. Krasner became district attorney. But Mr. Krasner’s office has charged only some 3,740 people for property crimes this year, down from 7,500 over the same period of 2017. No wonder criminals feel it’s urban hunting season.
After a public backlash, Mr. Krasner walked back his claim that there was no crime crisis in Philadelphia. “I know that some inarticulate things I said earlier this week have offended people,” he said on Dec. 9. “I did not acknowledge the pain and the hurt that people feel in the city of Philadelphia,” he said on Dec. 13.
That half-apology means little as criminals now treat Philadelphia streets as if they have free rein to rob anyone at any time of the day. Wedding parties may soon need their own security in the City of Brotherly Mayhem.
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