Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner downplayed a violent crime spike in the city during a re-election fundraiser with Hollywood celebrities and top Democrats just hours after eight people were shot outside a train station in broad daylight, according to audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Krasner did not mention the shooting during his virtual address in February to liberal donors and prominent figures such as celebrity John Legend and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, according to the Free Beacon. Eight people were injured in a mass shooting earlier that afternoon at a busy intersection outside a Philadelphia train station.
He reportedly blasted critics of his progressive crime policy as ignorant, claiming they got their understanding of crime from “watching Law & Order on television” and hold irrational fears of “werewolves running up and down the street.”
Hours after eight people were shot in broad daylight outside a Philadelphia train station, @DA_LarryKrasner downplayed a historic violent crime surge during a $1,000-a-head reelection fundraiser with Hollywood and Democratic VIPs.
Via @CAndersonMO https://t.co/AZYf4wDIxq
— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 12, 2021
“Needless to say — screams, ranting and raving, ‘There will be a crime wave; there will be werewolves running up and down the street; they’re gonna grab you people out of your house and take them out of the back!'” Krasner said according to the Free Beacon. “Except no, that’s not what happened.”
The comments come as Philadelphia has experienced a record spike in violent crime. The homicide rate in particular increased every year since Krasner took office in 2018, and reached a 30-year high last year, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.
Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police president John McNesby slammed Krasner for downplaying violent crime during the February fundraiser “while people are being shot at a record pace under his watch.” He also said Krasner “dismisses law enforcement” and has “zero cooperation” with Philadelphia police. (RELATED: Several Shot Outside Philadelphia Sports Bar)
“That’s his M.O. He doesn’t care about anybody but himself. He’s a condescending person, he’s arrogant,” McNesby told the Free Beacon. “The only campaign promise that Krasner has kept is that he would lower the jail population. He’s done an incredible job at that — unfortunately, at the expense of the community and the folks out there losing loved ones.”
Krasner is facing a primary challenge from prosecutor Carlos Vega, who has blasted the district attorney for making the city “vulnerable and unsafe” and was endorsed by the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Daily Caller has reached out to Krasner’s office for comment.