Multi-dimensional
1.) There is a clear disconnect between politicians reporting crime is down (stats!!) and people's lived experience. Part of this is manipulating statistics, and part of it is people knowing that crimes won't be investigated, so they don't report them.
2.) During and after COVID, American urban political leaders ceded public places to criminals and lunatics.
3.) Part of that secession was the George Floyd killing and the widespread "racial reckoning". This reckoning led to cashless bail and slaps on the wrist from judges/attorneys.
4.) Urban white people, specifically white women, were the leaders in this movement. They organized, funded, and voted for these changes.
5.) Crime spiked to multi-decade highs -- in Chicago, we almost got back up to 1,000 murders in a single year -- leading to a massive anti-crime push all over the country. Chicago, NYC, and San Francisco all elected tough-on-crime district attorneys in the last 2 years.
6.) After taking a big fat L on crime reform, these same white women went all-in on the Ukrainian war. Flags, social media, yard signs, etc., popped up in the same neighborhoods that were awash in Black Lives Matter material.
7.) Basically, Ukraine became the "
current thing" to get obsessed about for a select group of people. After Ukraine, they shifted to Trans Rights, and now that they have lost on that issue too, they are searching for the next thing.
8.) Trump wins, these people and their causes are universally rejected, but while murders are down from the 2020-2022 highs, carjackings, muggings, robberies, etc., are all still well above 2010-2019 numbers.
9.) Now, enter a young Ukrainian refugee seeking safety in America as her country is destroyed.
10.) She is subsequently killed in cold blood by a black man who is a career violent criminal (arrested 14x) and was given dozens of chances due to those post-2020 criminal justice changes. His own mother asked why the judge didn't put him in jail after she pleaded that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
So we have Ukraine, refugees, post-George Floyd failed criminal justice reform, another clear example of how public places are dangerous, and Trump's recent push to improve crime in urban areas. It's basically all these major flashpoint issues boiled down to a single video. If you haven't watched it and have a strong stomach, it's a tough, tough thing to see.
I will bet $10,000 that this story not only
doesn't go away, but it will remain a leading story for months and play heavily in the 2026 midterms.