When Phil Murphy visited Newark with Kamala Harris last Friday, Save Jerseyans, no one mentioned the Brick City having recently achieved a grim milestone. Convenient!
I’m referring to the murder rate in New Jersey’s most populous municipality.
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Two days before the Veep’s visit to Essex Community College, a 31-year-old man was shot dead on South 6th Street.
Newark had logged 43 murders for the year as of October 3rd, up significantly from 33 murders through October 3, 2020. The city is on pace to hit 57 homicides, the total from 2019.
2019 was actually a low point in a good way; there hadn’t been so few murders in Newark in decades. Homicides rose 23% in 2020 thanks to the Murphy lockdown and everything that came along with it including a decidedly anti-police sentiment impacting the policies coming out of Trenton.
2021 is a different story. Statewide, shootings are up 36% versus the year-to-date 2020 total.
There’s a reason why the NJ Fraternal Order of Police decided not to endorse Murphy for reelection this year, folks. Things are getting ugly out there.
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