Ocasio-Cortez Warns Against ‘Hysteria’ Over Rising Violence, Reiterates Her Proposal To Defund Police

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called public’s concerns over an ongoing increase in violent crimes “hysteria” and repeated her proposal to defund the police during a Saturday Zoom call.

“We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases. Now, I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much, but I also want to make sure … that this doesn’t drive a hysteria and that we look at these numbers in context,” Ocasio-Cortez said at Virtual Town Hall with Democratic New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

WATCH: Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls the concerns over the spike in crime “hysteria” pic.twitter.com/MMZ2dlAhpM

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 25, 2021

Ocasio-Cortez also complained that the media “perpetuate[s] this idea of crime wave” which she said makes people form a false perception of “some unprecedented level” of violent crime. (RELATED: REPORT: Man Shot In Times Square)

The lawmaker added that not resorting to hysteria is necessary to make “responsible decisions” about allocation of funds that may have alternative uses in addressing the problem.

The online event also saw Ocasio-Cortez and Bowman echo each other, voicing their support for defunding the police.

As crime surges, Democrat Jamaal Bowman say he supports defunding the police pic.twitter.com/kh7W99gkOz

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 25, 2021

“Yes, I support the reallocation of resources from NYPD towards more social services,” Bowman said during the meeting.

“I agree with Representative Bowman. I do believe that we need to reallocate resources away,” Ocasio-Cortez said in response.

New York City experienced a 97% year-on-year increase in shootings, with 1,531 shooting incidents recorded in 2020 compared to 777 in 2019. The number of murders increased by 44% in 2020 compared to a year before, a January report by the NYPD shows.

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