Virginians for Safe Communities (VSC)

The point of this tweet is not that progressive prosecutors are responsible for the precipitous drop in murders in Philly and NYC since 2022. The point, rather, is that we have no clear idea why the murder rate has fallen off a cliff, and explanations that point to "tougher prosecutors" can't explain what's happened in much of the country.

“approximately 50 violent groups or gangs in Oakland with an active membership of between 1,000 and 1,200 people, which represented just 0.3% of the population … were responsible for up to 85% of the city’s homicides”

“In 2024, the states with the highest total rates of gun-related deaths – counting homicides, suicides and all other categories the CDC tracks – included Mississippi (28.0 per 100,000 people), New Mexico (26.6), Alaska (24.4), Alabama (23.7) and Wyoming (23.4).”

UPDATE: Why did DA José Garza's office just let Frank Bonner walk on the murder of homeless woman Kelly Meazell? Here's what prosecutors got from police: - Kelly was shot in the neck at close range, with signs of being robbed after. - A nearby security camera caught a man running after Kelly, then jumping into a car and speeding off. - A tipster told police what happened: Bonner killed Kelly because she owed him drug money, then came home that night in bloody clothes, bagged them up, and took off. - Two days later, police got a 911 call from Bonner's apartment because a woman was being held at gunpoint. He ran before officers arrived. - Police searched the apartment and found a Nest camera in his living room recording the night Kelly was killed. Six minutes after the shooting, Bonner walks in, strips off his bloody clothes, and stuffs them into a kitchen trash bag. He tells the woman with him to power off her phone then washes his hands. He tells her to mop the floor, and then says, on his own camera, out loud: "Homicide will be in this hoe, right." Then he tells her to misdirect police about his timing and whereabouts. Garza's office reviewed all of this and rejected the murder charge two weeks ago -- after years of dropping Bonner's prior cases for aggravated robbery, drug felonies, evading arrest, tampering with evidence, contraband in jail, and felon-with-firearm. Bonner's pending aggravated assault case was also dismissed in the meantime. This was a separate shooting where he put three bullets in a man's leg over a crack baggie. The reason given was that the victim wouldn't testify. But prosecutors don't need a cooperative victim to pursue a man who shot someone in broad daylight -- not with shell casings, surveillance, 911 audio, medical records, and a record a mile long. They chose not to fight that one either. So after a trail of victims, including a dead homeless woman, Frank Bonner is back on Austin's streets.

Kenyan McDuffie repeatedly lied about JLG’s record and fundraising tonight. She does not support divestment of MPD. She does not support new taxes on working people. Her mayoral campaign is not supported by Pepco, Washington Gas, or Exelon — unlike McDuffie.