People walk past the Sol Tribe tattoo parlor where two women were shot dead and a man was injured on December 27 in Denver, Colo. This is the first in a series of shootings that have claimed the lives of five people in the area.
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People walk past the Sol Tribe tattoo parlor where two women were shot dead and a man was injured on December 27 in Denver, Colo. This is the first in a series of shootings that have claimed the lives of five people in the area.
Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday said the federal government wanted to create a “comprehensive” response to The scourge of gun crime involves working more with cities and states.
“At the Department of Justice, we stand with you in the fight against violent crime, and we will use every tool at our disposal to protect our community,” Garland said in a statement to the Market Conference. US Secretary of State in Washington on Friday.
According to the FBI, the number of homicides in the US has increased by nearly 30% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the FBI, the largest increase in a year ever recorded.
Earlier this month, the think-tank of the Criminal Justice Council reported that homicides rose 7% last year, based on police data from major cities, with Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Portland and at least 10 other cities are still seeing record numbers of homicides.
Look beyond the officers on the street
State and local police are on the front lines in the fight against gun violence, homicide and assault, and Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas City, Mo., says the community needs a lot of help from the federal government.
“The challenge over the past few years has been that there has been so much debate,” said Lucas, who chairs the mayor conference’s Criminal and Social Justice Committee. “It’s law enforcement – the police officers on the streets and funding them – or you invest in programs in your community that prevent violence, cure patterns of violence. , etc”
Kansas City saw 182 homicides in 2021, the second deadliest year in the city’s history. Lucas said the Justice Department under former President Donald Trump has flooded many cities with federal agents. Now Lucas wants a different kind of flood.
“Resources help us fund more of our social work programs, especially our work with young people, which is the kind of change we need from this administration.” , he said. “And I think the mayors are waiting to see when that will happen because, God knows, the problem is not going away in any of our cities.”
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas addresses protesters during a rally at Country Club Plaza on May 31, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo.
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Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas addresses protesters during a rally at Country Club Plaza on May 31, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo.
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Justice Department under President Biden launched five strike forces to disrupt illegal weapons traffic and share intelligence. Garland has also been using law enforcement action: to propose new rules to limit the spread of ghost guns that lack serial numbers and promote the safe storage of firearms so they don’t get in the way. into the wrong hands.
Last year, the Justice Department spent $139 million promoting the hiring of more police on the streets. But the attorney general said Friday that the department also wants to invest in social workers who disrupt community violence and programs that help people with mental illness.
Kris Brown, president of Brady United Against Gun Violence, said more enforcement of the laws already in the book was needed, and a new head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said. The Biden administration’s first choice for that job, David Chipman, withdrew his candidacy last September after being opposed in the Senate and among gun rights groups.
The parents of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet shot by an LAPD officer at a clothing store in North Hollywood, and their attorneys held a news conference on Monday. December 28, 2021.
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The parents of Valentina Orellana-Peralta, a 14-year-old girl who was killed by a stray bullet shot by an LAPD officer at a clothing store in North Hollywood, and their attorneys held a news conference on Monday. December 28, 2021.
Ringo HW Chiu / AP
According to Brown, the ATF inspects only a small fraction of gun stores each year, and less than 1% of federally licensed gun dealers have their licenses revoked even after serious violations. Her group must event to access information on which gun dealers are responsible for a variety of firearms used in crimes.
“We need this administration to put in place a director who understands the agency and makes it work the way it should,” Brown said.
New threat: aggression against election officials
The Justice Department is facing a variety of challenges, including about 850 reports of threats to officials overseeing elections in states around the country.
On Friday, federal prosecutors launched the first criminal case against a Texas man who threatened officials in Georgia.
Chad Stark, 54, allegedly wrote that it was time to “fire bullets” at an election official and visit another election officer and her family. The indictment cites a January 5, 2021 Craigslist post in which Stark said, “we’ll find you sworn and we’ll pay your family to visit your mom, your dad, your dad. , your brothers and sisters, your wife, your wife . . . We will set an example for those who betrayed our country … death to you and all your communist friends.”
“Today’s allegations are an important milestone for the election-threat task force that I announced last summer,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in an exclusive interview with NPR. “It’s not just that we’ve seen an increase in threats, but it’s also quite frankly the alarmingly aggressive and personal nature of the threats.”
Monaco says election officers are defending democracy – and the Justice Department will protect them.
“Today’s charges are the first but they won’t be the last,” Monaco said.
Justice Department officials say there are dozens of open investigations into election threats.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco speaks during a news conference with other federal law enforcement officials at the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building on November 8, 2021.
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Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco speaks during a news conference with other federal law enforcement officials at the Robert F. Kennedy Main Justice Building on November 8, 2021.
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