Axios: Bibb claps back at Trump admin over crime drop claims
Sam Allard, Axios
Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb is pushing back on the Trump administration's effort to take credit for falling crime rates in major U.S. cities.
Why it matters: Bibb's response is a natural follow-up to his 2025 State of the City address, at which he lamented forthcoming federal cuts to violence prevention.
"Washington is not coming to save us," he said at the time.
State of play: An X post this week from the Department of Homeland Security noted that homicides were down 17% across 30 cities during Trump's term compared to the first six months of 2024.
"The rapid arrests and deportations of criminal illegal aliens are having real impact on public safety," the post reads.
Reality check: In an opinion piece published Friday on MSNBC, Bibb wrote that violent crime is indeed dropping, "in city after city led by Democratic mayors."
He attributed the trend to local leadership and community-based strategies.
What they're saying: "The truth is that it's all happening in spite of Donald Trump, not because of him," he wrote.
Democratic mayors "have stepped up to demonstrate what real leadership looks like... We are managing what we can control and doubling down on programs and strategies that work."
Zoom in: Homicides are down 26% year over year in Cleveland, according to Bibb.
He credited the RISE initiative to increase police recruitment, technologies like ShotSpotter to combat gun violence and investments in housing and infrastructure to improve quality of life for residents more broadly.
Bibb criticized Republicans' "unprecedented cuts to critical government and community-based public safety programs our cities rely on."
The big picture: Bibb joined a chorus of Democratic mayors in a press call Thursday to tout their grassroots public safety efforts, while accusing Trump and congressional Republicans of slashing federal funding.
The last word: "Let's be clear about who is fighting for safer communities — and who is standing in the way," Bibb wrote.
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