3 Anarchist Cities

From the BBC:

“New York among three 'anarchist' cities named by White House to lose funds”

The Trump administration has named three cities that are slated to lose federal funding after the White House accused them of tolerating crime. New York City, Portland and Seattle are on the list of "anarchist cities" that Trump officials say have failed to stem crime linked to a summer of protests. It follows a memo from Mr Trump earlier this month, threatening the move. The mayors of the cities have promised to sue, calling Mr Trump's move a political stunt. A statement from the Justice Department on Monday laid out recent crime rates in the cities and how their police responded. "We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance," Attorney General William Barr said in the statement. He also called on Portland, Seattle and New York City to "reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens". All three cities have seen major protests since the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in May. It remains unclear what federal funding may be cut from the cities. Violent crimes have generally declined in US cities since the 1990s, but have risen steeply in the past year in several cities including Philadelphia, Chicago and New York.

What is happening in those cities? The move comes amid a summer of unrest sparked by protests against the police killing of black Americans. Some of the protests have led to major police reforms around the country.

In New York City, the rate of shootings and murders have skyrocketed as youth programmes and other social organisations have been placed on hold due to the pandemic. Cases of looting and vandalism have also made national news as protests for racial justice have sometimes turned violent. Reacting to the Justice department announcement on Monday, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio called the decision "another one of President Trump's games," adding: "It's insulting to the people of New York City and his [Mr Trump's] effort to withhold our funding is unconstitutional."

Seattle permitted the establishment of a so-called "autonomous zone," where protesters forbade police from entering six square blocks of the downtown part of the city for nearly a month. The area was taken down in early July after several shootings. Nightly protests have continued since.

Portland, Oregon, has often been invoked by Mr Trump as a "Democrat-run" city that has supposedly allowed violence. Protests have continued nightly there for over 100 consecutive days, sometimes devolving to violence and vandalism as protesters fight with police.

^While I firmly believe that the Mayors and City Officials (as well as the State Governors and City Officials) in Seattle, Portland and New York City have openly encouraged their residents to commit violence, destruction and death through both their words and their actions I do not know what the US Federal Government can do to stop them and restore law and order except sending in Federal Troops. ^

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54238101