Joni Ernst slams progressive criminal reform policies: 'Stop playing politics'

FIRST ON FOX – Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, on Wednesday will condemn progressive politicians for their criminal reform policies, which she argues have led to spikes in violent crime in major U.S. cities.

The U.S. murder rate reached a 25-year high in 2021, with more than 19,600 people killed nationwide, according to FBI data examined by data analyst Jeff Asher and shared by the New York Times. It’s the closest the nation has come to the high-crime scourge of the early '90s.

Murders across 22 major U.S. cities increased 44% in 2021 compared to 2019 and 5% compared to 2020. There were 218 more murders in the 22 cities in 2021 – a 44% increase compared to 2019, representing nearly 1,300 additional lives lost since three years ago, according to updated findings from the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ), a nonpartisan criminal justice policy organization.