American Cities Are Experiencing the Lowest Homicide Rate Since 1900 – Thank You, President Trump
The Council on Criminal Justice just released its mid-year 2026 crime update, and the numbers are historic: the national homicide rate is on track to hit its lowest point since at least 1900. Not the lowest in decades. The lowest in over 125 years. Following the 30% murder surge of 2020, American cities have now achieved a crime decline that erases not just the pandemic spike but the multi-decade trend that preceded it.
The left’s response to this news is what you’d expect: a determined search for explanations that don’t credit anything President Donald Trump and his administration have been doing.
“Researchers and practitioners have pointed to a range of possible influences, including changes in criminal justice operations and strategies, technological advances, and broad shifts in society and culture,” the CCJ report hedges.
“Community prevention.” “Behavioral trends.” “Prisoner reentry programs.” Right. The gang bangers are improving their behavior. That’s the scientific explanation and if you’re a moron, you’ll believe that.
Let’s try the less politically convenient one. Between 2020 and 2025, approximately 100 million additional guns entered private hands in America. Roughly 30 million Americans acquired guns between 2021 and 2024 alone, including over 11 million first-time owners. The academic literature on defensive gun use is extensive and consistently shows that armed citizens deter crime. More armed citizens means more deterrence. It’s not complicated — it just violates the left’s preferred narrative about gun ownership.
The immigration enforcement effect is equally significant and equally suppressed in the academic literature. ICE’s removal of dangerous criminal aliens — including the 16,000 arrests in Washington D.C. alone over the past year, including 35 homicide suspects and 100 known gang members — directly reduces the pool of people committing violent crimes in American cities. The left prefers the phrase “swept in many people who pose little or no public safety risk” to avoid acknowledging that the people who do pose risks are the ones who mattered.
Washington D.C. is the proof of concept. The city recorded 424 homicides across 2020-2021, peaking at 274 in 2023. In the first half of 2026, it recorded 46 — a 43.9% decline from the same period last year. The National Guard deployment cratered the rate further.
This is what happens when the federal government actually enforces the law, puts violent criminals in prison, removes criminal aliens, and empowers police to do their jobs rather than handcuffing them with “defund” politics and no-bail policies that cycle offenders back onto the streets within hours.
The left will credit “community prevention programs” forever rather than admit that what they advocated — defunding the police, emptying prisons, opening the border — produced 2020’s murder surge. And what Trump implemented produced the decline.
The data is unambiguous. The homicide rate is at a 125-year low. Someone is responsible for that. If Trump would have been blamed for an increase, he deserves credit for the decline.
BREAKING: Dolly Parton’s Cause Of Death Revealed: ‘Brief Battle’
Dolly Parton’s death came after a brief battle with cancer, her representatives revealed Tuesday.
The country music legend died Aug. 25 at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. She was 80.
Parton had been admitted to the cancer center Friday, four days before her death. Her representatives confirmed the cancer diagnosis in a statement to PEOPLE but did not disclose what type she had.
“Our beloved Dolly Parton spent her life and career bringing joy, laughter, hope and integrity into everything she touched. Her unmatched generosity reached the lives of countless people whom she would never meet, yet she was always there to offer a helping hand,” the statement read.
“Whether it be the hundreds of millions of books donated through her invaluable Imagination Library or funding research that helped create a lifesaving vaccine used around the world, Dolly’s unconditional love for all people was the guiding force for her lasting impact. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” the statement concluded.
The “Jolene” singer had also been dealing with kidney and autoimmune issues before her death, PEOPLE previously reported.
Just days earlier, Dolly Parton opened up about her declining health and acknowledged that she had put off addressing some medical issues while caring for her husband, Carl.
“As I’ve shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn’t pay attention to when I was watching over [my husband] Carl. You know, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to manage something like this. Back in the early ’80s, I was down for several months with female issues, and I was struggling with my weight at the time too, so it’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health,” Parton told PEOPLE.
Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, announced her death in an Instagram video Tuesday on behalf of the Parton and Owens family.
“My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next,” he says in the video.
Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security for more than two decades, said she had asked him years earlier to deliver the announcement.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality,” he continued. “As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.”
Seaver said the moment brought immense pride and heartbreak, but he took comfort in his faith that Parton had been reunited with Carl and other loved ones.
Seaver added: “It is an honor, an honor that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless othe
Shocking 'truth' behind Prince Harry's decision to quit major role
Prince Harry should have "resigned in disgrace" from the board of a controversial African wildlife charity, a commentator says. James Walker makes the bombshell remark in Wednesday's episode of this publication's podcast, Daily Expresso.
He and the show's host, JJ Anisiobi, delve into the Duke of Sussex's dramatic decision to step down from African Parks. James, commenting on the controversy, said: "When you hear about this stuff and how long it's been going on for, you should be resigning in disgrace. [Harry] should be saying: 'I'm not touching that with a barge pole. That is a failed entity. We're going nowhere near it'.
"But no. He's still saying he's going to 'support their mission'. And again this Caroline Pearce, executive director of Survival International, goes on to say: 'His departure doesn't undo that record'.
"She alleged that African Parks was aware of the abuses for years, but it was only after Survival complained to Harry that the charity finally commissioned an investigation."
James added: "Well, she's got a point."
It emerged on Monday (August 24) that Harry was no longer a board member of the wildlife charity.
The conservation organisation has admitted that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers against members of the semi-nomadic Baka group in Congo-Brazzaville.
African Parks has said since that it has improved its safeguarding processes both in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park and institutionally.
Its admission followed an independent human rights investigation into allegations guards managed and paid by the charity had beaten, raped and tortured indigenous people in Odzala-Kokoua National Park.
Harry was president of the charity for six years before he became a member of its board of directors in 2023.
A spokesman for the Duke said he remains an active and avid supporter of African Parks. He added: "The Duke is proud of his 10 years with African Parks and fully supports the ongoing strengthening of its board.
"His commitment to conservation in Africa continues and he remains a supporter of African Parks’ mission."
Human rights organisation, Survival International, said it had been calling on Harry to step down from African Parks for years.
The group's director, Caroline Pearce, said in a statement: "It’s outrageous that for 10 years Prince Harry has served African Parks while the organisation has been responsible for abuse and violence against Indigenous people.
"His departure doesn't undo that record — African Parks itself must now be held accountable, and must abandon this model of fortress conservation for good."
Survival International said indigenous peoples know how best to manage their land and the idea outsiders know better is racist and colonial.
