Dov Hikind, a former New York Democrat lawmaker, blasted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., after suggesting that the current wave of smash-and-grab robberies plaguing America’s most popular cities is a hoax.
During an interview on Fox & Friends First on Monday, Hiking criticized AOC’s “tone-deaf” comments amidst a rise in crime throughout the country.
“These crimes that are being committed, there are real victims out there,” Hikind said. “The bail reform that she supports, where criminals walk out before the police officer finishes the paperwork, it’s ridiculous, causing new victims out there. It is really out of control.”
After questioning where the Democrat Party was while Americans were being victimized by criminals, he called AOC “a disaster for the average American.”
“She’s a big heroine to a lot of people,” the former lawmaker claimed. “She is a disaster for the average American because of her policies and the things that she advocates, and the fact that so many Democrats are fearful of her and the radical left of the Democratic Party.”
“Crime [is] out of control in New York and Los Angeles, other cities all over America, victims [are] all over America. AOC doesn’t care about victims. She cares about the criminal,” he added.
AOC has received significant backlash after suggesting that “a lot of these allegations of organized retail theft are not actually panning out,” during an interview with the Washington Times.
“I believe it’s a Walgreens in California cited it, but the data didn’t back it up,” she added. The self-proclaimed “socialist” representative quickly drew backlash from Republican lawmakers and retail groups following her remarks.
“The pure tone deaf arrogance of the Progressive Left is astounding,” North Carolina Republican Rep. Greg Murphy tweeted.
Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana also slammed AOC’s comments as “tone-deaf and offensive” to the family of Kevin Nishita, a former police officer and grandfather of three, who was shot and killed by thieves while serving as a security guard for a news team reporting on a robbery in Oakland.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association accused AOC of being ignorant on the subject and not caring about retail store employees.
“Respectfully, the Congresswoman has no idea what she is talking about. Both the data and stack of video evidence makes fairly clear that this is a growing problem in need of solutions,” Jason Brewer, RILA senior executive vice president of communications, said in an email to the Washington Times.
“If she is not concerned with organized theft and increasingly violent attacks on retail employees, she should just say that,” said Brewer.
Walgreens also pushed back, saying “organized retail crime is one of the top challenges facing” the business faces.
Los Angeles police recently announced 14 arrests with connections to 11 recent smash-and-grab robberies at stores where roughly $340,000 worth of items have been stolen. The suspects, however, have been released.
LAPD’s data revealed 7,542 robberies that took place in Los Angeles this year through Nov. 27. That is a 3.9 percent increase from the robberies reported last year.
Other major American cities have experienced a surge in organized retail crime.
