President-elect Donald Trump can set the tone for zero-tolerance policies on crime by appointing tough-on-crime leaders, but cracking down on crime in New York City will also depend on local support that hasn't been happening, former Rep. Pete King told Newsmax Sunday.
"People are talking about felony crimes being down in New York," the New York Republican said. "[It's] still 30% above what it was in 2019."
He added that the "horrible burning to death" of a woman on a New York subway "is just such a metaphor for what's gone wrong," on "Wake Up America Weekend."
Sebastian Zapeta, an immigrant from Guatemala, is facing murder charges after allegedly setting a woman on fire in a New York subway and watching her burn to death.
Under former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg, the subways were "the safest place ever to ride," he added. "I grew up on subways. I [went] to school and to work on subways, and I saw how they deteriorated and then gotten so much better, so much better."
But under former Mayor Bill de Blasio and current Mayor Eric Adams, crime has increased, said King, adding that he also blames Gov. Kathy Hochul for a "lot of this," and as a result, "you're putting your life in your hands by taking the New York City subway system."
Trump has already said his first priority is the border and the immigration system, and King said that the administration must also find a way to cut funding to cities and states that won't cooperate.
"Here in New York, it's been under the mayors and the governors," he said. "They basically made us a sanctuary city, a sanctuary state. And while illegal immigration affects the entire country, it particularly affects areas like New York. We have had these Venezuelan gangs attacking cops in Times Square, taking over hotels. I mean, it's just a different world over the last three or four years, and this can't continue."
District attorneys must get tougher on crime, but not prosecute people like Daniel Penny over the chokehold death of subway rider Jordan Neely.
"That probably did more to harm the cause of law and order in New York," said King. "It told people if you volunteer to help someone, you are going to be indicted and prosecuted. So it has to be a full-scale effort."
Stopping sanctuary city protections is a key step to restoring law and order, said King.
"They have to be stopped by the federal government and I think having Tom Homan there, you couldn't ask for a better guy to be enforcing that," said King.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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