Philadelphia Democratic Mayor Michael Nutter told The Daily Caller that he “absolutely” stands by calling parents “idiots and assholes” for not knowing their children’s whereabouts and who “they’re associated with” before they turn to crime on the city’s streets.
“I absolutely stand by it. I said it. I meant it and it’s the reality of that particular situation. It’s still very, very painful to know that someone would shoot into a car of defenseless teenagers and you know, there are any number of components to this, why were the teens out in the first place?” he told TheDC during an interview at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting Friday.
“I’m not one who blames the victim,” he said, “but you know everyone has a level of responsibility here and parents must know where their kids are and what they’re up to, who they’re associated with and other things that are going on.”
Nutter had told Fox 29, “The first way to stop this kind of stuff is for young people to be home when they’re supposed to be home, and for adults not to act like idiots and assholes out in the streets of our city shooting at kids in a car.”
In the interview, Nutter cited cuts to the federal COPS program as an example of where the Obama administration and Congress have failed to properly assist cities in fighting crime.
“There’s no question that support for the COPS program is critically important for cities like Philadelphia and many others across the nation. Unfortunately we’ve been seeing cuts to that program where we actually need to be investing more in that particular program,” Nutter told TheDC.
“We’re looking for more coordination, more collaboration and more consistent level of support from our federal agencies on the ground in Philadelphia,” he said.
Nutter shot back at critics who suggest that federal tax dollars should not be given to states and cities, calling it a “baseless” claim.
“We all pay federal taxes that we send to Washington and it is not unusual that as Americans we would expect some federal investment in the cities and metro areas because we’re the ones that are generating the economic activity. I mean, I’ve heard that criticism, it’s baseless and seems not to make any sense,” Nutter said.