The Department of Justice, under approval by United States Attorney General Bill Barr, has labeled three major cities as “anarchist jurisdictions” and will now decide if those three cities will lose federal funding.
The cities in question are New York City, New York; Seattle, Washington; and Portland, Oregon. Each of the three cities listed with that designation are now facing a loss of federal funding because of their inability to control protesters and the desire to “defund the police” – a movement made big on social media, mostly by those supporting the Democratic party.
An exclusive reported on the NY Post quoted AG Bill Barr, saying “when state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest. We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance… It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.”
That statement is due to be released at some point today.
Each of the three cities has experienced a multitude of peaceful protests, but there have been numerous incidents where the protests were no longer peaceful and some of the participants turned for the worse, committing various alleged crimes ranging from arson, assault, vandalism, or worse when people have lost their lives.
It remains to be seen how much federal funding will be lost by each city, or if this is being used as a “wake-up” call to the cities to get reorganized and under control.
President Donald Trump has been very vocal against the non-peaceful protesters, consistently calling for law and order to end the chaos and make cities safe for residents.