Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas, slammed the Biden administration for releasing inmates en masse. According to him, this is creating a law and order crisis in America right now.
Prisoners were released to maintain so-called COVID protocols in America
Writing an op-ed in Fox News, Tom Cotton noted the prison’s population shrank by 15 percent in 2020, resulting in the lowest prison population since 1992 in America.
Similarly, he mentioned this trend continued in 2021, and the jail population plummeted by 25 percent last year.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) says there are “false claims that we have an overincarceration problem in this country.”
The U.S. makes up 5% of the global population, but nearly 25% of the world’s prison population. pic.twitter.com/Lqm6F6ZrHD
— The Recount (@therecount) July 23, 2021
According to the senator, this is the worst jailbreak in American history being committed in broad daylight, in the name of maintaining coronavirus protocols in American jails, for which Americans are paying the price.
In addition to that, Cotton wrote that Rikers Island in New York City alone released 1,500 inmates, while Chicago’s largest prison released 25 percent of its criminals.
Not only this, but Cotton believes Democrat states have even released convicted murderers and violent felons to safeguard “public health.”
The senator claimed the prison population of California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey dropped by 20%, 21%, 22%, and 33%, respectively.
Thanks to liberal jailbreak policies, D.C.'s homicide rate is at a 16-year high.
D.C.'s solution? Defund the police and attack law enforcement. https://t.co/3bHEtDAFSo
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 12, 2021
All of this is happening at a cost that Americans are paying, Cotton added. He commented many states saw a significant upsurge in murders and homicides; this was done by the same people who were released prematurely from prisons.
Cotton asserted more than 100,000 Americans died from homicide and drug overdoses last year, while the country saw the worst rioting in recent memory.
According to him, a 142 percent increase in gang killings and 42 percent increase in murders overall were reported in New York alone last year. Similarly, California saw a rise of 31 percent in murders during the same period.
Lack of prosecution contributed to surging crimes
However, Cotton believed the release of inmates is not the only reason for increasing crime, as the lack of prosecutions played a similar role.
For instance, the new prison admissions were reduced by 66 percent in California, which is the highest in any state in 2020, while they were reduced to 60 percent in New York.
The GOP senator refused to admit the release of prisoners and the increase in crime at the same time can be a coincidence.
While proposing the solutions to these crises, Cotton asserted new prisons could be made with the leftover money of COVID vaccines, which will reduce the strain on existing jail facilities.
Cotton stated Alabama has started building new prisons using these funds, and now other states should also do the same. After all, if COVID can be used as an excuse to release criminals, this step can also be taken.
During the last year, crime rates in many big cities broke previous records and Democrats continued defunding the police in blue cities.
