Note: This article includes mentions of violence and sexual assault.
WASHINGTON — Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee furthered an ongoing GOP campaign to spotlight criminal activity in Democratic-run cities on Wednesday. In a Subcommittee on Oversight hearing, witnesses from the New York police department and experts on crime testified about crime rates, policing and repeat offenders in major cities.
President Donald Trump has spent his first year in office targeting crime in Democratic run cities by sending in National Guard, often against the wishes of local officials, and escalating the use of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids.
Chairman Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) opened the hearing by saying that Democrats have enabled violent crime by prioritizing “ideology over good public safety.”
“Crime just didn’t rise and come about on its own, it happened because leaders chose that,” Rep. Van Drew said. “Leaders in the Democratic-run cities have made political choices, choices that were radical ideology for safety politics.”
Witness Dr. Nancy La Vigne, Dean of Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, cited contradictory statistics to the GOP’s claims of crime being on the rise.
According to a 2024 Federal Bureau of Investigation report, murder rates declined 14.9% from 2023, along with a 5.2% decrease in rapes. Aggravated assaults also fell 3%.
“Nationwide crime is down 50% from its peak in 1991,” La Vigne said. “We’re clearly doing something right, and to that I say, ‘if it’s working, don’t break it.’ That’s precisely what this administration is doing,” she added.
Subcommittee ranking member Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) condemned the increased militarization leveraged by the Trump administration, claiming that these tactics are more harmful than helpful..
“In Donald Trump’s America, you are at increased risk of experiencing militaristic operations in your home, increased risk of being subject to detainment by masked thugs and wannabe vigilantes and increased risk of suffering injuries due to reckless and illegal acts by rogue federal agents,” Rep. Crockett said.
Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said that Democrats have been driving a recent decline in violent crimes. He also condemned the ideology that Democrats have enabled violent crime through lenient policies.
“This is an odd proposition to me, given that Democratic-led cities today are now driving a historic nationwide decrease in crime,” Rep Raskin said.
He added that Trump’s blanket pardoning of January 6 rioters contradicts his tough-on-crime stance. Holding up a statement made by Sgt. Aquilino Gonell, a former Capitol Police officer who was critically injured at the January 6 insurrection, Raskin claimed that Trump’s pardon of these rioters threatened public safety.
“Trump, his attorney general, and his FBI director talk tough about cracking down on violent crime…you would think they would want those who committed one of the most spectacular acts of public violence in living memory held accountable,” Gonell said.
While Democrats condemned the presence of federal agents in American cities, some claim that the National Guard is needed to promote safety in high-crime cities.
Tina McKinney, the mother of a Memphis Police Department Officer killed in the line of duty, told lawmakers that she condemned violent crime in major cities. She said that crime in cities like Memphis warrants a robust response from the federal government. She added that her son’s death was part of an ongoing crisis of failed policies.
“This wasn’t just a tragedy,” she said. “It was a failure of leadership and a failure of accountability. My son was a police officer, but he was also a victim…of failed policies and failed leaders.”
