Fox Business anchor Charles Payne stunned “Fox & Friends” viewers with a gut-wrenching revelation. Payne’s emotional on-air confession cast a spotlight on the violent crime wave sweeping urban liberal cities.
“My niece was shot on the street I grew up on,” Payne said to his co-hosts on Wednesday, adding a deeply personal dimension to his usual economic commentary. She was attending a memorial for a friend’s son when she got caught in a targeted attack. After a grueling four-hour surgery, she’s now on the mend.
“She’s okay now,” Payne reassured viewers. “Whether it’s in places where the opioid epidemic is out of control or places like my neighborhood was being gentrified, but this gang thing has really been amazing. I had no idea it was getting, it was this bad. It’s really bad.”
Payne didn’t mince words, blaming illegal immigrants for the rise in gang activity. “These illegal immigrants are gangsters,” he said. “They’re all intertwined in these gangs. No one will report on it, but it’s because it’s really bad.”
WATCH:
The NYPD has raised alarms about crimes linked to young men in migrant shelters, with viral videos fueling public outcry. The surge in reported offenses has sparked a fierce outcry from Republican leaders, who argue that New York is under siege from migrant criminals. However, measuring the exact extent of crimes committed by migrants poses a significant challenge, as officers are prohibited from inquiring about a suspect’s immigration status, according to the NYPD.
Robberies in New York City have spiked by over 8% this year compared to 2023, NYPD statistics show. The city has seen a tumultuous history with this particular crime, with annual robbery rates peaking at a staggering 100,000 in 1990—a 35-year high—before plummeting to around 13,000 annually between 2017 and 2021. However, these numbers saw a notable increase to 17,411 in 2022, before slightly declining to 16,910 in 2023 according to Fox News.
In recent months, GOP leaders and representatives have voiced strong disapproval of President Biden’s handling of the border, arguing that his policies have been ineffective and have contributed to crime rates. They argue that the president has the tools necessary to secure the border but has failed to use them effectively.
After a bipartisan border security bill failed in Congress, many Republicans blamed Biden for not pushing harder to secure the border through executive means. This has added to the narrative of a presidency that, according to critics, has not taken enough concrete actions to address border security issues.
"*" indicates required fields
