Violence is soaring in Portland, Oregon, after a significant cut to police funding.
Jason Rantz, host of “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTS Radio in Seattle, told Fox News that crime has dramatically increased in the city and he said he knows why.
“It’s very specific crimes,” he said. “We’re talking about shootings. We’re talking about homicides being up, as well. There is a connection between ending the Gun Violence Reduction Team and the gun violence that we’ve seen in the city of Portland."
Fox News noted the Gun Violence Reduction Team had been comprised of 34 police officers before being disbanded.
“It’s simple cause and effect,” Rantz said. “You can extend the same logic to our personal lives. Once we slow our internet speeds down because we don’t want to pay for it … guess what? It takes longer to download stuff off the internet.
“When you go after the very team of police officers that are going after the problems concerning gun violence, guess what? More gun violence happens.
“The politicians decided to give into the mob of people asking them to defund the police over the summer. They got rid of this team and now they’re suffering the consequence of it.”
According to Fox News, Portland recorded 59 shootings in December – an increase from 33 the previous year. The news network said Portland has recorded 850 shootings this year, which is more than double the 393 shootings from last year.
Portland has been the site of frequent protests, many involving violent clashes between officers and demonstrators, ever since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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