The Cities They Called “Lost” Are Quietly Winning Their Fights Against Crime

While political leaders threaten to send troops into America’s largest cities, the numbers quietly tell a different story. Violent crime is falling—and fastest in the very places being targeted.

The Posse Comitatus Experiment in Los Angeles

On June 7, 2025, Donald Trump stretched constitutional boundaries by deploying 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 U.S. Marines to downtown Los Angeles. The mission: suppress nonviolent protests against unconstitutional ICE operations. Federal agents—masked, unmarked, and nameless—used black vans to abduct Latino immigrants in broad daylight.

This chilling spectacle raised serious questions under the Posse Comitatus Act, a law designed to prevent military overreach into civilian life:

U.S. Code Title 18, Section 1385

1385. Use of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force as posse comitatus

Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Air Force, or the Space Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.

Fact: Trump’s military deployments into U.S. cities are unlawful and are in violation of the U.S. Code.

Militarizing the Capital

Just weeks later, on August 11, Trump declared a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., triggering a federal troop deployment that began the next day. The mobilization included:

• Federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department
  

• Arrival of out-of-state National Guard troops from six Republican-led states, including West Virginia, South Carolina, and Mississippi
  

• A stated mission to “protect federal assets” and “provide a visible law enforcement presence,” though most troops were stationed in low-crime areas like the National Mall (a short walk to the White House).

Despite the administration’s claims, violent crime in D.C. had been steadily declining. Carjackings alone were down nearly 50% since 2023. Mayor Muriel Bowser and other local leaders condemned the move as performative and unnecessary.

Cities in Recovery, Not Ruin

Both Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. were militarized under the guise of crisis—despite clear signs of recovery. Now, Trump has proposed similar deployments to Baltimore and Chicago, calling them “crime-ridden” and “so far gone.” He even threatened to withhold federal funding for Baltimore’s collapsed Key Bridge unless the city “cleans up.”

Maryland Governor Wes Moore pushed back, calling the rhetoric “purely performative.” The data backs him up.

The United States is a Nation Quietly Healing

Despite political theatrics, violent crime across the United States has been steadily declining for the past five years:

National homicide rates dropped by nearly 20% between 2020 and 2024

Aggravated assaults fell in 38 of the 50 largest metro areas

Property crime reached its lowest level since the early 1990s

Cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and D.C.— although cast as “lost”—are leading the downturn in crime.

This isn’t a fluke. It’s a trend. And it’s happening in the very places being targeted for troop deployments.

The cities they called broken are quietly rebuilding. Not with soldiers, but with strategy, community, and time.

Let’s Look at Some Data—Then Ask, Why?

The cities being branded as “crime-ridden” are, in fact, leading the nation in crime reduction. I’ve analyzed homicide trends from 2020 to 2025 in ten major Democratic-led metros. The results are staggering:

City	Homicide Decline (2020–2025)
Los Angeles	🔻 74%
San Francisco	🔻 64%
Baltimore	🔻 46%
Chicago	🔻 44%
New York City	🔻 36%

Average decline across top five: 63%

Now compare that to five Republican-leaning cities:

City	Homicide Decline (2020–2025)
Dallas	🔻 4%
Houston	🔻 23%
Phoenix	🔻 41%
Tampa	🔻 55%
San Antonio	🔻 52%

Average decline: 34%

Perception vs. Reality

The disconnect between political rhetoric and actual crime data isn’t just misleading—it’s strategic. It paints thriving communities as war zones, justifies federal overreach, and distracts from the real work being done by local leaders, violence interrupters, and public health advocates.

“Too many people in our communities… have put their lives on the line each and every day to make the city a safer place.” —Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott

What’s Driving the Difference?

Democratic cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Baltimore have invested in:

• Community-based violence intervention

• Data-driven policing

• Public health approaches to crime

These strategies take time—but they work. Republican-led cities, while improving, often rely on reactive enforcement. The results are less consistent.

Democratic Los Angeles dropped from 392 homicides in 2020 to ~100 in 2025 — a 74% reduction. Republican Dallas went from 198 to 190 during the same time period — a modest 4% drop.

The Real Exposé: Why These Cities?

Every city targeted for troop deployment—Los Angeles, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago—is Democratic-led. The pattern is unmistakable. This isn’t about crime. It’s about control.

Trump called Baltimore “so far gone” and threatened to withhold bridge funding. Gov. Wes Moore responded with facts: “In the first six months of 2025, Baltimore saw a 28% drop in homicides and a 19% drop in non-fatal shootings.”

From Crime Stats to Power Plays

And yet, despite the data, despite the documented decline in violent crime across Democratic-led metros, the federal deployments continue. Not as a response to chaos—but as a provocation.

The cities being targeted—Los Angeles, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago—aren’t failing. They’re recovering. But they are also symbolic. They are Democratic strongholds, media magnets, and cultural bellwethers. To send troops into these cities is not to solve crime—it is to stage a spectacle. A spectacle designed to stoke fear, provoke unrest, and justify further control.

This is not conjecture. It is pattern. And the pattern points to something darker than politics.

As the author, I must confess: when my Spidey sense tingles, I listen. And lately, it’s been ringing like a fire alarm. The rhetoric, the deployments, the timing—it all suggests a strategy not of governance, but of destabilization. A strategy designed to incite inner-city uprisings, racial flashpoints, and mass unrest. The goal? To trigger a national emergency so profound that martial law becomes not just possible—but inevitable.

And once martial law is declared, elections can be suspended. The Constitution can be sidelined. And the man who has never shown reverence for its principles can remain in power indefinitely.

This may sound extreme. But it is not a conspiracy theory. It is a reading of the tea leaves—based on things Trump has said, shared, and smiled at. Consider the following:

“President for Life? That sounds real nice.”

At a rally in 2018, Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping’s indefinite rule and mused aloud:

“He’s now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll give that a shot someday.”

This wasn’t satire—it was a trial balloon. The crowd laughed. Trump smiled. But the subtext was unmistakable.

The “Trump Pope” Meme

Just days after Pope Francis died in April 2025, Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself dressed in full papal regalia—white cassock, gold cross, and raised finger—without comment. He had previously joked:

“I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice.”

The meme was widely condemned by Catholic leaders and the New York State Catholic Conference as “mocking the faith”. But Trump’s reposting suggests more than humor—it signals a symbolic coronation, a fusion of spiritual and political dominion.

“So you mean if we’re at war… no more elections?”

During an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on August 18, 2025, Trump seized on Zelenskyy’s comment that elections can’t be held during wartime:

“So let me just see, three and a half years from now, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections? That’s good.”

Zelenskyy laughed. Trump smirked. But many observers recoiled, calling it “sickening” and “a trial balloon for martial law.”

Political Apathy and Incremental Authoritarianism

I would like to quote Pastor Martin Niemöller, a German Lutheran theologian who initially supported Hitler but later opposed the Nazi regime and was imprisoned for it. His words became a timeless warning. One I take seriously and is a driving force in why I blog the way I do, that is, I won’t be remembered as one who did not speak out against tyranny, injustice, and unnecessary suffering.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

This quote is engraved at the New England Holocaust Memorial and cited by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It’s been adapted many times, but the essence remains: silence enables tyranny.

History has a rhythm. And when it repeats, it often begins with silence.

Echoes from the past, a Clarion call for Today!

This moment demands that we stay awake, aware, and vigilant. Pastor Martin Niemöller’s warning echoes through time—and the pattern is repeating:

“First they came for the cities. Then the journalists. Then the judges. And when they come for you, there will be no one left to speak.”

But it doesn’t have to end in silence. Or in violence.

There is a Solution

This situation—like this post—must end not in despair, but in direction. There is a solution. And it is not political. It is divine.

It is a Plan that has been unfolding since time immemorial. War is a dead end. But peace—true peace—is still possible. Not the peace of treaties or temporary truces, but the peace of prophecy. A path offered by the Prince of Peace, the One sent by God with the blueprints for unity and healing: the Second Christ, Bahá’u’lláh.

An Invitation to Investigate

I place this offering on the table for your consideration. I invite you—sincerely and respectfully—to investigate the truth.

There is a school in the world today called the Bet Midrash. It is the same school that Shem founded when he built the city of Jerusalem 4,000 years ago. Today, its teachings live on in the New Jerusalem.

The solution to the world’s deepest problems can be found in this new Bet Midrash. Enrollment is free. The only requirement is an open mind and a pure heart.

Why not visit now and see with your own eyes. The situation we face requires that we stop seeing things through the eyes of others.

See for yourself:

Godspeed, friends