A Fox News guest vetted host Lawrence Jones for his “fear-mongering” over crime in New York City amid outrage over the killing of a homeless man on a subway. (See their exchange below.)
In a Thursday post on the Conservative network, Jones tried to portray the killing of Jordan Neely – who was choked to death by a Navy veteran on Monday after boarding a subway car and complaining of a lack of food – as a “crime crisis” in “progressive cities.” “ like New York.
But his guest, University of Maryland lecturer Jason Nichols, wouldn’t let him.
“We have to make sure we’re not out here scaring and scaring people and scaring them to walk the streets or use the subway,” Nichols told the host.
“You’re a lot safer in New York City, which, by the way, is the safest city in the country and the ninth safest city in the world than, say, in Bakersfield, Californiawhich is [Republican House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy’s district. … You’re much safer in New York State when you are in OklahomaIncidentally, whose two largest cities are all Republican-ruled — Tulsa and Oklahoma City.”
New York City saw a decrease in reported violent crime in the first three months of 2023 compared to the same period last year. CBS News reports. That decline includes a drop in shootings, homicides, burglaries and rapes, the New York City Police Department said.
Overall crime in New York City saw a slight increase in April 2023 compared to April 2022, according to NYPD statistics, while transit crime fell 6.7% over the past month.
Nichols’ comments came a day after crowds of people protested Neely’s killing on video. The 24-year-old Marine veteran, who has not yet been publicly named by the NYPD, was not immediately charged after being questioned by police, but the coroner has since ruled the death a manslaughter.
Nichols later responded to Jones after asking if violent crime across the country was “just an illusion.”
“Lawrence, no, that’s nobody’s imagination,” Nichols replied. “But here’s the thing: are we going to share anecdotes, or are we going to actually talk about the work that our law enforcement agencies and others are doing to actually end crime? And crime is actually going down.”