It has become common in recent years to hear about the precipitous rise in Democratic-led states where progressive prosecutors have enacted soft-on-crime policies that de-emphasize punishment for criminals.
Even in generally red states, however, there are liberal enclaves experiencing similar trends.
In Asheville, North Carolina, for example, police have seen the rate of burglaries more than double — and some law enforcement sources are blaming the perceived inaction of the local district attorney’s office.
“Crime will continue to rise when there is no accountability for subjects of a crime,” said one officer who spoke to the Carolina Journal last year on the condition of anonymity. “Officers overlook so many things because they know that it will go nowhere in court.”
One local bar has reportedly been hit twice by robbers, according to its owner.
Chris Faber said someone stole several hundred dollars and various bottles of liquor during the first break-in and a short time later about a dozen more bottles were stolen. He said a neighboring business was also burglarized.
“It’s wildly frustrating, and mostly for me it’s frustrating because I’m not comfortable leaving my bar by itself when it happens that frequently,” he said. “We just don’t know what to do as a preventative measure other than what we’re already doing.”
While the recent increase in break-ins is staggering, a potentially more troubling trend can be found in the rate of violent crimes across Asheville.
As Fox News reported in September, the city’s 11 homicides up to that point in the year eclipsed the pace of the two previous years. Between 2016 and 2020, the rate of violent crime in Asheville increased by 31%.
Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan said at the time that he attributed the crime wave to a trend in recent years “of pulling police back and not letting them do their jobs like they’re able to do.”
In addition to the leftist push to defund police, a number of district attorney races have been inundated with donations from far-left groups and activists, most notably billionaire George Soros.
President Trump calls out George Soros for funding the radical left prosecutors that defend ANTIFA terrorists. 🔥🔥🔥
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) January 27, 2023
Soros has reportedly spent at least $40 million to boost roughly 75 progressive prosecutors in campaigns across the United States.
