| Submit your comments on this article |
| -War on Police- |
| Mad Max mayor's [D] outrageous excuse for the lawlessness going on in his own city |
| 2025-05-10 |
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Kansas City's Democratic mayor has passed the buck to police about his city's collapse into Mad Max-style lawlessness, with gangs of thugs and bikers scaring locals to stay in their homes after dark. Speaking with the Daily Mail, Quinton Lucas slammed the 'reckless and foolish' street-racing gangs that terrify locals, but rejected claims that he's personally responsible for the collapse of law and order in his city. Residents and business owners accuse Lucas of soft-on-crime policies and failing to prosecute lawbreakers since the George Floyd race riots of 2020, and of ignoring their repeated pleas for public safety. Despite these widespread concerns, Lucas said the problem was under control, that Kansas City could 'handle this moment' and that a police recruitment drive would get more officers on the streets in the coming months. He spoke as his terrified residents complain that downtown Kansas City has become a hotspot for illegal street racing, reckless ATV and dirt bike riders tearing through the neighborhoods. Locals now fear to tread downtown after dark — and owners of bars and restaurants there say they can understand why, while also complaining that they're on the brink of going bust. The dystopian scenes recall the Mad Max movies, which saw a 'road warrior' played by Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy terrorized by post-apocalyptic gangs riding motorbikes and ATVs across the Australian desert. Another video of brazen lawlessness emerged this week, showing two people mercilessly punching and kicking another person on the sidewalk at a bus stop in the downtown area at night. 'We need to make sure that we have enough officers,' Mayor Lucas, 40, told Daily Mail in a phone interview on Friday. 'More than anything, we need to make sure that there are real consequences for those who are engaging in reckless and foolish behavior in downtown Kansas City and all around our community.' Lucas said he had not seen the latest shocking videos to emerge of chaos on Southwest Blvd — footage of a rider popping a wheelie and speeding when he hit the walker, who was trying to cross the street. The mayor has faced criticism for ignoring business owners when they report their concerns about crime and how their eateries are suffering to their top local official. Lucas he has spoken with David Lopez, the general manager at Manny's Mexican Restaurant — one of the downtown restaurateurs who has complained that diners are too scared to go out for a meal, and that businesses are suffering. 'I have great confidence in the city being able to handle this moment and many others,' said the mayor, who lives in a four-bedroom, $500,000 home. 'I know other American cities are confronting at these traffic issues, street racing and beyond, I think we need serious enforcement for all of them, and I think that's what we will continue to see.' He added that Kansas City police was seeing its largest recruitment drive 'in over a decade,' which he said would help address the problem. But Mark Anthony Jones, chairman of a district Republican committee, slammed Lucas, saying the mayor had championed soft-on-crime polices since the George Floyd race riots erupted in early 2020. 'He wants to blame the police, but the reason the police can't seem to get a handle on this is because everything that they do, they get their hands slapped by the mayor,' Jones told The Daily Mail. Jones lives in downtown Kansas City and says he and his neighbors are regularly disturbed by noisy ATVs and other vehicles racing in the lawless streets in the middle of the night. 'People aren't wanting to go out after dark because you might get shot,' he said. 'In my own street at 3am in the morning, somebody will be shooting. That kind of stuff is normal here.' Sean Smith, a Republican legislator for Jackson County, added that Lucas is struggling against long-term Kansas City problems of crime and poverty, and he 'has a lot on his plate' thanks to a crisis in City Hall. City manager Brian Platt, who led efforts to improve traffic safety, was fired last month for retaliating against a whistleblower who'd complained that he directed employees to lie to the media. Funding for Kansas City police is determined by the state and has been subject to years-long controversy. City officials tried to get more control over police resources amid the Floyd-era protests, but faced opposition from state Republicans. Missourians voted last year to require Kansas City to direct at least 25 percent of its budget to police, compared to 20 percent previously. Kansas City business owners have been complaining about lawlessness for weeks. Frustrated business owners and locals are weighing whether to abandon downtown altogether, blaming the Dem-run city's leadership and law enforcement for failing to curb the chaos and restore a sense of safety. 'This isn't a race issue, this isn't a political issue, this is a safety issue,' Lopez, a local business owner, told Fox News, noting how chaos right outside is a constant occurrence, posing extreme danger for the surrounding community. 'I feel as though this city is about unsafe as it's been since my family has been at 207 Southwest Boulevard, and that's 45 years this September,' he added. 'When things out of your control start to chip away at the very foundation of what you've done for four generations, it hurts.' Not only is the community feeling the impact as they return to the safety of their own homes by nightfall, but long-standing local businesses are bearing the brunt - watching foot traffic vanish and revenue slip away. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |