Blue City Blues: Random Crime and Senseless Violence

Everyday life in your typical major American blue city appears to be only getting worse, despite an orchestrated dominant media narrative declaring otherwise. An ongoing crime wave that can be directly attributed to massive unchecked immigration and deliberate “progressive” efforts to reduce police staffing and reduce prison sentences in the name of “criminal justice reform” is still very much a daily feature of life in Democrat-controlled urban locales.

“More than half of residents feel unsafe in downtown Boston and are asking for the city to deploy more police to the area on a regular basis to counteract crime, according to a new survey,” The Boston Herald reported Oct. 4. “The survey, released [Oct. 2] by the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association, shows a [22-percentage-point] increase in residents who feel unsafe downtown and on Boston Common, from 34% last year to 56% this year.”

That’s a mighty big jump. And the closer one examines the survey, the bleaker things look.

Worn Down by a Woke Wu

“A whopping 90% of survey respondents rated downtown Boston public safety as an ‘urgent issue,’ up from 81% last year. More than half, or 53%, gave the issue the highest level of urgency, by rating their concerns at a 10 on a 10-point scale. The other urgency ratings encompassing the 90% pool ranged from 7 to 9,” the Herald relates.

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“Drugs and needles remained the most frequently cited concern, while violence rose considerably as a top issue,” the article continues. “When asked what they would change if they had a ‘magic wand,’ 45% of respondents called for more visible police and patrols. This is the highest share in the three years of the survey.”

Boston is notorious as the home of perhaps the most woke mayor in the country outside of the West Coast. Democrat Michelle Wu has endlessly promoted one divisive radical agenda after another since assuming office in 2021. “Wellness allowances” for “queer and trans” migrants for massages and yoga may be a Wu spending priority, but strengthening law enforcement is not.

“In June, three people were shot in the Theatre District. The following month, a worker was allegedly assaulted near Downtown Crossing, and a fight near the Park Street MBTA station turned into a stabbing attack. Also in July, a man from Norwood was killed near the intersection of Boylston and Tremont Streets,” local PBS affiliate WGBH noted in its article on the new survey.

Twin Cities Somali Gangs and Charm City Shootouts

The fear that one can become the victim of a random act of violence at any time is a crushing deflator of civic spirit. In blue-run Minneapolis and its surrounding suburbs, the runaway violence of Somali gangs is spilling over into all sorts of communal activities. During the summer, local residents had to keep their heads on a swivel at the Minnesota State Fair. Now, simply attending a high school football game in the fall can get you killed.

“Two teens were shot on [Oct. 2] at the Eden Prairie High School homecoming football game against Minnetonka,” local news site Alpha News reports. “Law enforcement sources told Alpha News senior reporter Liz Collin that Somali gangs were responsible.”

“Of course the Eden Prairie football game shooting was another Somali gang crime. Will anyone in the Minnesota media – other than Alpha News – tell Minnesotans the truth?” US House Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) wrote in an X post expressing his frustration. “Or are they too concerned about being politically correct? It’s not racist to call out Somali gang violence. Somali gangs are terrorizing our communities and putting our children’s lives at risk.”

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Guess who immediately and adamantly refused to acknowledge this reality?

“State officials are assisting local authorities to find those responsible after a shooting outside the Eden Prairie football game. No homecoming, in any community, should be disrupted by gun violence,” Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz wrote in an Oct. 3 X post so deliberately obtuse as to be provoking to beleaguered Minnesotans.

Fortunately, no one lost their life at the game. Unlike in Baltimore, where a young girl was fatally caught in the crossfire of the violence that is endemic to that chaotic city.

“A 12-year-old girl was fatally shot and three other people were wounded at a Baltimore park where a youth football game was being played, and police said they were seeking at least two suspects,” the Associated Press reported Oct. 4. “Officers responded to Leon Day Park at 6:15 pm Saturday, where the girl and a woman were found with gunshot wounds. Two men also walked into area hospitals seeking treatment, Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said at a news conference,” the wire service explained.

Why did this child lose her life?

According to the AP: “Two men involved in an argument believed to be over a parking spot began shooting at each other, and the girl and the woman were struck by bullets, Worley said.”

Just another day in the big blue city.

Black Businesses Feel the Pain in the Windy City

In Chicago, meanwhile, local black business owners on the South Side have been staggered by a wave of criminal break-ins. It would appear that “decarceration” in the name of racial justice doesn’t magically protect minority-owned businesses from the effects of runaway lawlessness.

“Business owners in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood were cleaning up shattered glass and assessing thousands of dollars in damage [on Oct. 4] after a string of break-ins affected multiple storefronts, according to police and business owners,” ABC7-TV in Chicago reports.

CBS Chicago reported at least five businesses on the same block were hit.

“Bronzeville Soul was one of the targeted businesses,” the station noted. “It’s obviously some type of trend and targeting going on,” co-owner Angie Price told the outlet. “We feel like the whole neighborhood and the community is under attack,” Arel Israel, co-owner of Soul Veg City, exclaimed.

“I just really wish ya’ll find something better to do in life. It’s more productive things to do in your life and there’s more better things to express your feelings or whatever you’re going through,” exasperated Hair Expert owner Nicholas Byrd said in a message to the perpetrators.

It’s getting harder and harder to place the blame for all this on angry rural white men who have fallen prey to the diabolical siren call of the “radical right,” isn’t it?