As you may have heard, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is blaming car makers Kia and Hyundai for car thefts in the city.
This is beyond stupid. What’s next? Blaming purse manufacturers for purses that are too easy to steal?
And to top it off, an opinion writer at the New York Times is agreeing with Johnson on this.
This is an actual column in the New York Times:
Kia and Hyundai Helped Enable a Crime Wave. They Should Pay for It.
In a recent analysis of data from 37 American cities, the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, suggested a hopeful trend — the pandemic-era spike in crime may have peaked. The homicide rate has dropped significantly over the last year, based on data from 30 American cities. In many places, just about all types of violent crimes are down, in some areas substantially — in Atlanta, for instance, there have been 21 percent fewer aggravated assaults, 28 percent fewer homicides and 56 percent fewer rapes than at this point in 2022, according to police department data.
But there’s a glaring exception: auto thefts. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, “The number of vehicle thefts during the first half of 2023 was 33.5 percent higher, on average, than during the same period in 2022 — representing 23,974 more vehicle thefts in the cities that reported data.” In Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, New Orleans, Buffalo and Durham, N.C., motor vehicle thefts this year have more than doubled relative to last year, according to stats collected by Jeff Asher, a crime data analyst. This week, The Baltimore Sun reported that “auto thefts are on pace to more than double the total from last year, as reports through the first eight months of 2023 are already up 88 percent compared to all of 2022.”
Why are so many cars getting stolen? Police departments and city officials point to this: Millions of Kias and Hyundais are ridiculously easy to steal.
It’s hard to believe this is real.
Another example of absurdity. Kia and Hyundai cars are easier to steal than others, so it’s *their fault* people are committing thousands of felonies. pic.twitter.com/C76arHle34
— Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) September 1, 2023
The real criminals are the car manufacturers according to progressive Governors, Mayors, and DAs
The stupidity will continue until you elect better people https://t.co/WoWmAefu0d
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) September 1, 2023
Remember, this is being said in order to avoid prosecuting the people who are stealing cars.
They are actually saying this nonsense out loud in order to spare criminals.
