The Rev. Al Sharpton hit at progressives this week for not "dealing with violent crimes" during a speech for his National Action Network delivered in New York City.
During a five-day conference at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, Sharpton introduced a panel of four mayors: New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chicago's outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Mount Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, and former Pittsburgh Mayor Michael Mutter, to discuss urban crime.
Sharpton said that "anybody that tells you they're progressive but don't care about dealing with violent crimes are not."
He added, "Progressive for who? We gotta stop using progressive as a noun and use it as an adjective. You're labeled progressive but your action is regressive. I'm woke? You must think I'm asleep."
Sharpton added that he's now in agreement with Adams, who he declined to endorse during his campaign, when it comes to the need for "a national agenda around urban violence, urban crime, and accountability."
The New York Times reports that the city experienced a 22% increase in major crimes, including robberies, burglaries, and grand larcenies, last year despite also seeing a decline in shootings and murders.
Of 189,777 arrests made across New York City last year, 47,572 were related to the most serious crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, felony assault, robbery, and other crimes. Michael Lipetri, the chief of crime control strategies at the New York Police Department, told the newspaper that the city made more gun arrests last year than in any of the previous 27 years, with 4,627 arrests.
Political consultant Ken Frydman told the New York Post that Sharpton is "seeing what's happening in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and it's clear there's a public safety crisis across the country," and "he wants to be a leading voice on that issue."
During Thursday's panel, Lightfoot criticized the media for its depiction of the Windy City.
"Those of you who are from outside of Chicago are like, Wait, I thought Chicago was the murder capital of the world? I thought Chicago was the most violent place that you can't walk down the street," she said. "But the truth is — and this is one of the biggest challenges — we have to break through what the media wants to portray Black-led cities as and tell the truth about what's actually happening in our streets."
Each of the mayors emphasized the need for combating crime through a focus on education and community intervention, and said that police officers need to have assistance from mental health services and other related services.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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