Murder rates are skyrocketing across major U.S. cities as protests, statue destruction, and chaos continue. In the almost universally Democrat cities, we are seeing Ferguson/Baltimore in full effect, with police pulling back from fear of reprisal or being kneecapped by politicians. In many cases, the mayors of these cities are disassembling effective policing units, such as the undercover anti-crime units in New York City.

That’s leading to tragic and shocking results. For example, murders are up 358% in New York City right now.

"New York City shootings over the last seven days skyrocketed by more than 358 percent compared with the same time period in 2019, from just 12 last year to 55 in 2020, according to NYPD data News 4 reported Monday."https://t.co/SA1e9FWCbx

— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) June 22, 2020

Some of this is before the protests, which suggests the virus has also had an impact on policing. But the largest outbreaks of violence have been in the last several weeks. Over the weekend, a mass shooting happened in Minneapolis. In Chicago, 102 people were shot, one shooting taking the life of a child while four others were hospitalized.

This is the natural outgrowth of demonizing police and Democrat politicians looking to pander making bad decisions. The solution to whatever problem those currently destroying statues and rioting claim exists is certainly not handicapping policing. Yet, that’s exactly what they are calling for. In the end, far more black lives are being lost due to the protest movements than are being saved. I know it’s unpopular to point that out, but shouldn’t results matter? If you are fostering an environment where shootings skyrocket, you aren’t protecting people, you are making things worse.

Unfortunately, the leaders of these cities lack the will to do what needs to be done when it comes to stopping the violence. Any increase in police presence is seen as provocation. Any reduction in police presence is then blamed for an increase in violence. It’s a ridiculous cycle that leaves law enforcement losing no matter what. In the end, though, no one owes another person their protection. If police feel overly threatened and abandoned, they are going to naturally pull back. Protesters can’t then complain about police not doing their jobs.

I hope this resets soon, not because of politics (chaos in Democrat cities likely hurts Democrats), but because the loss of life is reaching staggering levels. It needs to stop.