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#WH says AOC claim that economic crisis causing crime wave is ‘preposterous’

#WH says AOC claim that economic crisis causing crime wave is ‘preposterous’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doubled down Monday on her claim that record unemployment and economic woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic are fueling an increase in violent crime in New York City — a theory the White House mocked as “preposterous.”

“I do think that even when you talk about violent crime, I don’t think that poverty and economic desperation are separate from that either,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a campaign-sponsored food distribution event for the needy event outside Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens.

“When people do not have opportunities, I can tell you from my personal experience and what I saw growing up. When families don’t have money, a lot of times young people and teens that feel like they need to support their mom, sometimes they’ll turn to selling drugs, which can then lead to an escalated level of trouble, to what police label as gang activity,” the Bronx native said.

“So the idea that violent crime is somehow immune, or totally separated, from the economic situation that people are going through right now, I think that’s mistaken. It’s true. The desperation, even if we’re not talking about petty theft, there is a ladder that escalates into violent crime that is very much connected to the economic situation of a given community.”

AOC first raised her “Les Miserables”-like theory of economic desperation triggering crime  — instead of cuts to the NYPD — during a virtual town hall meeting last Thursday.

She gave an example of what economic desperation can do, citing a single mom with several kids.

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.

James Messerschmidt

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.

James Messerschmidt

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“You have a teenage son that feels like he needs to support her. He starts selling drugs so that he can support his parents. This is a very common story here in New York, and then once you get into that area of selling drugs, then that could entangle you in violent situations with suppliers and so on,” the first-term congresswoman said.

The Democratic Socialist firebrand pointed to the “the emotional pressure, anger, venting that happens with the desperation that is happening right now.”

She also noted that a quarter of New Yorkers were unable to make their rent payments in recent months.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.James Messerschmidt

“It’s not just theft or non-violent crime that can be connected to that. That also has implications on violent crime,” AOC said.

But President Trump’s spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany slammed AOC for trying to make economic conditions the culprit for the rise in violent crime, and blamed the congresswoman and other lefty progressives for taking actions to gut police enforcement and demonize cops.

“You have, most egregious of all, really, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying defund the police means defund the police. She criticized of course the announcement of $1.5 billion being taken down from NYPD [that the cut wasn’t enough],” McEnany told reporters at the White House.

“And this weekend, when faced with 28 shootings in New York, a 600% increase from this time last year, you have Rep. Ocasio-Cortez saying this is just because people are trying to get food with their families,” McEnany said.

“That is preposterous,” the Trump spokeswoman said a press briefing.

McEnany continued,  “The reality is 63 percent of Americans in this country fear that criticism of our police departments will lead to no public safety in their streets. And 69% of black Americans. This is a real issue when you call our police cancer, when you talk about dismantling them. And then this weekend in New York, you see a one year old killed in his stroller. His name was Davelle Gardner Jr and that one year old will be in our prayers.”

The Trump spokeswoman then referenced the ambush killing of two police officer in McAllen, Texas — Ismael Chavez and Edelmiro Garza, and how Chavez’s daughter, Savannah, was ridiculed by some on Twitter for saying “blue lives matter” when posting a tribute to her father.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.James Messerschmidt

“I know she received vile and outrageous comments online that were absolutely atrocious for her touching sentiment to her dad. I want Savannah to know your dad is a hero. His police department should never be defunded because most of our police officers are good, hard working men and women and heroes, much like Savannah’s dad. We will be praying for you, Savannah,” McEnany said.

Meanwhile, during her campaign event, AOC cited a scaling back of the city’s summer youth employment program for teen-agers could cause crime problems.

“When you cut summer jobs for teens, then they’re out in the street during summertime with nothing to do all day. That creates a situation that can be untenable. And so we need to have an whole-picture approach. If we just think that policing or not policing is the direct connection with crime, you’re going to get it wrong….We have to make sure that people have economic opportunities, that they have social opportunities, and that also, even in this uptick in violent crime, that we are not putting people into a lifetime of incarceral.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez distributes food to people at Our Lady of Sorros in Corona, NY.James Messerschmidt

Elsewhere AOC disputed that claims that the NYPD’s elimination of its plain clothes anti-crime unit is triggering a jump in violent shooting.

“Each precinct has a detective, they have investigatory units. There’s not just the anti-crime unit that is responsible for gun investigations and other shootings,” she said.

AOC easily won her Democratic primary election last month against rivals that included business journalist Michelle Caruso-Cabrera.

She faces Republican John Cummings, an ex-cop and teacher, in the general election for the 14th congressional district that takes in portions of Queens and The Bronx.

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