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The Associated Press admitted today that “Violence has surged in the US during the pandemic,” but insists “experts say there is no one clear cut reason.”

This is one of the few instances where the mainstream media has acknowledged the increase in violent crime that accompanied this summer’s Black Lives Matter riots.

Homicides in Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities have topped 2019 numbers as violence surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities and some experts say there is no one clear-cut reason for the spike. They point to social and economic upheaval caused by COVID-19, hostility toward police following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody, and a historic shortage of jobs and other resources in poorer communities as contributing factors. It’s happening in cities large and small, Democrat- and Republican-led. [AP]

There is a clear cut reason though. It has a name and it’s been extensively documented by Heather Mac Donald and others: The Ferguson Effect.

The rising carnage in the inner city is the consequence of this official repudiation of the criminal-justice system. The current tolerance and justification for vandalism and violence; the silencing of police supporters; and police unwillingness to intervene, even when their own precincts are assaulted—all send a clear message to criminals that society has lost the will to prevent lawlessness. In Minneapolis, shootings have more than doubled this year compared to last. Nearly half of all those shootings have occurred since George Floyd’s death, according to a Minneapolis Star Tribune analysis. [City Journal]

The Ferguson Effect has been further compounded by left-wing municipalities which have sought radical reforms to the criminal justice system, like abolishing cash bail and foregoing prosecution for “small crimes” like robbery and assault. From NBC:

On Jan. 1, a landmark New York law curtailing the use of cash bail went into effect, signaling a leap in a nationwide movement to reduce the number of people held in jails.

But after less than a week under the new system, elected officials are already having second thoughts, rattled by stories of suspects’ being set free and committing new crimes ─ including that of a woman accused of an anti-Semitic attack in New York City.

The backlash, led by conservative lawmakers and law enforcement authorities, is sweeping up some Democrats who pushed for the law, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who said Monday that it remains “a work in progress.” [NBC]

From Fox News:

Seattle’s City Council is mulling a new criminal code regulation that would make it the first municipality in the nation to excuse misdemeanor crimes if they can be linked to poverty, addiction or mental disorders. [Fox News]

And from the LA Times:

George Gascón embarked Monday on a plan to reimagine criminal prosecutions in Los Angeles County, announcing sweeping policy changes he’ll make as district attorney that include an end to cash bail, a ban on prosecutors seeking enhanced prison sentences and showing leniency to many low-level offenders.

Of all the policy changes Gascón laid out, the end to cash bail, which is set to go into effect Jan. 1, is perhaps the most seismic. Instead of seeking to hold criminal defendants in custody unless they can afford to post an amount of cash determined by a judge, prosecutors will be directed to ask judges to release them. [LA Times]

Add to that, “Anti-Karen Laws” which make it functionally illegal to report suspicious activity to the police if the suspicious person is non-white.

Other places have moved to make placing racist 911 calls a hate crime. California’s governor recently signed a measure making the crime a misdemeanor punishable by jail time and a fine. New York approved legislation allowing the victims of racist 911 calls to sue. [The Guardian]

These obvious causes of violence are downplayed or unmentioned by the “authorities and experts” at the Associated Press.

These causes are likely compounded by equally unmentionable causes, namely, that the lockdowns themselves have likely contributed to the increase in violence. Indeed, study after study has confirmed that destroying peoples livelihoods, locking them in their homes for months on end, and eliminating basic forms of human connection and social contact is a recipe for mental health disaster. With such a large percentage of the population out of work, stressed, and on edge, more people are going to snap. Suicide rates, deaths of despair, and domestic violence rates alike have skyrocketed as a result of the lockdown and there’s no reason to think that this wouldn’t apply to other forms of violence as well.

Simply put, the schizophrenic combination of mass racial riots and unprecedented lockdowns seems laboratory designed to do maximum damage to the collective mental health of an already deeply unstable population. A population in this condition is especially easy to control, being in such a vulnerable condition that it is willing to accept nearly anything that promises to restore sanity and order. And this, of course, is right where our nation’s corrupt ruling class wants us.

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