In a surprising act of political awareness, Democrat Mayor of Stockton, CA, Christina Fugazi, announced her intention this week to ask the federal government for manpower to stop rising crime after a horrific mass shooting at a child’s birthday party resulted in the deaths of 4 people and 11 wounded.
Though the investigation is ongoing, officials believe the attack was gang-related. Suspects remain at large.
“We’ve got approximately 5,000 gang members and 100 gangs in the city of Stockton,” Fugazi said. Stockton’s violent crime rate is currently 212% higher than the national average.
Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters in a briefing that the shooting occurred around 6 p.m. Pacific Time at a banquet hall along the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue. On Sunday, Brent confirmed three children were among the four people killed. The victims were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old.
“These animals walked in and shot children at a children’s birthday party,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said in a news conference Sunday. “None of us should stand for that.”
“And let us call this what it is,” Mayor Fugazi said in a Facebook post Sunday. “Gang violence exists in cities across the country, but this act was a pure act of terrorism. A complete, cowardly Terrorist Act!”
The Mayor admitted in press interviews that her city needed help, and that she was likely to ask for federal aid in the coming months.
The call for aid is a significant deviation for a blue city official. For the past year democrat mayors have acted with increasing hostility against the Trump Administration, proudly proclaiming their “resistance” to national law and order efforts including the deportation of illegal migrants.
The message being sent is impossible to misinterpret: Democrats would rather protect criminals than work with Trump to make cities safer. For if they accepted help, this would be an admission that progressive social policies don’t work. Mayor Fugazi seems desperate to make clear how bad the situation is, perhaps in fear of blowback from her own party.
“It’s babies we’re talking about, children,” Fugazi said. “We’re talking about a cake being cut as bullets are ringing out. The candles have been blown out, you’re cutting the cake, and then bullets are flying out, piercing, going through flesh and killing four people.”
She stopped short of calling for the deployment of the National Guard, but the Guard is not a fix-all solution, it’s essentially a barrier to protect other agencies from civil unrest and organized mobs. That said, Fugazi notes that she knows how significant her call for any aid from the Trump Administration is.
“We need more, we need more [federal manpower],” Fugazi said. “We want to be their pilot site for the United States of America. Come to Stockton, we’re here ready with our arms open for you to come into our city and let us lead them, the nation on how to do it right.”
“I am calling on the full power of the federal government not only to stop crime but also to give our community the tools to prevent crime before it starts…”
Is this the beginning of a sea change in how blue cities handle crime? Are they going to work with Trump for once instead of making life easier for criminals just to spite conservatives?
