(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) As crime rates continue to soar in the City of Brotherly Love, with businesses closing after being repeatedly victimized by roaming gangs of thugs, and citizens afraid to walk their own streets for fear of being attacked, Pennsylvania’s House GOP on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against Philadelphia’s radical leftist District Attorney Larry Krasner.
The call for impeachment comes as skyrocketing crime has taken center stage in the race for the state’s Senate seat between Republican Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, who is one of Krasner’s biggest boosters and shares the alleged prosecutor’s fondness for so-called criminal justice reform.
Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police President: John Fetterman is DA Larry Krasner's "best friend" and "biggest cheerleader." pic.twitter.com/stqWeHRcd2
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 28, 2022
The Soros-backed Krasner was complicit in creating the deadly chaos with his “progressive criminal justice philosophy that prioritizes criminals over victims,” House Republicans charged.
Philadelphia’s crime wave has left more than 750 people shot since the end of May, with overall crime spiking nearly 27% through September. With Krasner at the helm, the city saw a record 562 homicides last year, with an additional 438 reported in 2022 so far.
“These are the consequences of District Attorney Larry Krasner’s failure in office,” Rep. Martina White said at a press conference announcing the impeachment filing, reported the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
White, whose district includes Philadelphia, cited the findings of a select committee that blamed Krasner’s policies for historically high crime rates after being tasked to investigate the causes of and solutions to the city’s plunge into lawlessness.
“The city of Philadelphia cannot afford to wait any longer for us to take action on what we already know to be true. That Krasner is responsible for the rise in crime across our city due to his dereliction of duty to prosecute the guilty and to protect the innocent,” White said.
WaWa closing their Philadelphia area stores overnight due to crime pic.twitter.com/wOheCGDUEx
— Brian in WI (@CheeseheadBrian) October 24, 2022
Krasner implemented “a series of office policies with the purported purpose to ‘end mass incarceration and bring balance back to sentencing,’” noted the House’s call for impeachment, eliminating cash bail, ending prosecution for certain crimes and willfully ignoring others.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has seen its percentage of “all offenses” resulting in a dismissal or withdrawal spike to a record high 65% under Krasner’s watch, reported the House resolution.
“We must do something to free the people of Philadelphia from the crime and violence crisis that has destroyed lives and property and made Philadelphians prisoners of fear,” Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff said. “We will do the right thing where Larry Krasner has not.
“We are here to do everything we can to effectuate positive change in the city of Philadelphia in the hopes that someone will take over that is actually interested in putting violent criminals where they belong: In Jail.”
Krasner, who had already been held in contempt after ignoring a subpoena request from the select committee’s investigation, said the impeachment was “devastating to democracy, and it shows how far toward fascism the Republican Party is creeping.
“They just don’t think Philly has a right to govern itself,” Krasner said.
The impeachment resolution was sent to the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, reported Fox 29. If the House votes to impeach Krasner, a trial in the Senate would require a two-thirds vote to remove him from the job.
“His lack of proper leadership serves as a direct and proximate cause of the crisis currently facing the city of Philadelphia,” the resolution argued, and alleged that Krasner’s policies “have eviscerated the district attorney’s office’s ability to adequately enforce the laws of this commonwealth.”
