Attorney General William Barr designates NYC as “anarchist,” withdrawing federal funds

By Yehudit Garmaise:

Yesterday, Attorney General William Barr, labeled New York City, as well as, Portland, Ore., and Seattle, Wash., as “anarchist jurisdictions,” the New York Post Reports Today, because of the cities’ inability to control protesters and for defunding the police, in New York’s case, by $1 billion.

  The Justice Department’s Sunday designation of New York City, Portland, and Seattle as anarchist jurisdictions will result in the cities’ loss of federal money: the amounts of which have not yet been specified, but the financial penalties could take place within less than two weeks.

   “When state and local leaders impede their own law-enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, [they] endanger innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” the Post quotes Barr as saying in a statement that is set to be released today.

    After protestors this summer gathered outside City Hall and in front of some of the homes of New York City Council members to demand the city “defund the police” after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25, the New York City Council approved to shift $1 billion away from the New York Police Department and to cancel the hiring of 1,163 officers in July.

 At the time, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "We are reducing the size of our police force by not having the next recruit class.

  “We are reducing our overtime levels. We're shifting functions away from police to civilian agencies.”

   However, since then, unfortunately, the city has suffered a record increase in crime. The New York Times reported on Sept. 2 that “The city recorded 242 shootings in August, up from 91 last year, continuing a summer spike in gun violence.”

   In targeting anarchist cities to lose federal funds, Barr, Trump’s chief legal adviser, is responding to a memo the president ordered last month that ordered financial retribution against any cities that slash their police budgets amidst crime waves and tolerate violent protests.

“We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance,” the Post quoted Attorney General Barr as saying.

   “It is my hope that [New York City, Portland, and Seattle] will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.