Battenfeld: Trump threat to deploy troops to other cities puts Michelle Wu’s crime claims to test
President Trump s bid to expand the National Guard to other major cities could throw a spotlight on Boston s crime rate and put Michelle Wu s campaign claim it is the safest major city in America to a test With the Guard possibly moving into Chicago and Baltimore just the threat of an expansion into Boston would be a challenge to Wu s strength in the heat of her race for reelection Could it pull her out of her comfort zone of happy talk interviews with general radio Trump has not mentioned Boston yet as a city he d send troops to but he has long targeted Wu and the city over its sanctuary status and is threatening to withhold federal funds Would a threat to bring in troops throw a spotlight on crime in Boston and Democrats liberal law enforcement policies It would be the ultimate challenge to her contention that Boston is the safest major city in America We have been in their sights for months at this point because our city represents everything that showcases why they re wrong Wu reported They re wrong on the law they re wrong on safety We re the safest major city in the country because everyone is involved in safety here Wu continues to maintain the facade that Boston is totally safe But just because she says we re the safest major city in the country a thousand times doesn t mean it s true Every week there are shootings stabbings motorbike takeovers of the streets and attacks on Wu s constituents that she prefers to gloss over The facts are much more murky on whether the city is literally getting safer Violent crimes have been going up at Downtown Spanning Last week a Harvard researcher from Brazil was attacked by five teens at a downtown movie theater near the Boston Common because he sought the teens to be quiet in the theater He was left bloodied and bruised by the attack None of the teens were arrested by police The South End has been plagued by crime defecating and open air drug use from the spillover at Mass and Cass The crime reality spreads right into Boston City Hall where several city employees have been charged with gun crimes and assault Trump lately has been talking about moving Guard troops to cities like Chicago Los Angeles Baltimore and New York all with Democratic mayors You look at Chicago how bad it is You look at Los Angeles how bad it is Trump disclosed last week We have major cities that are very bad As you all know Chicago is a killing field The mayors and Massachusetts Gov Maura Healey dispute Trump s characterization and say they don t want or need the federal help If Donald Trump really cared about masses safety he wouldn t be cutting funding for local law enforcement which he s done Healey explained If Trump does expand his targets to Boston that would rip the facade that Wu has set on crime in the last limited months of her re-election race against Josh Kraft And it could spark a debate in Boston over masses safety that she does not want to engage in Boston Police Superintendent in Chief Phillip Owens speaks to Mayor Michelle Wu during an event last week outside City Hall Nancy Lane Boston Herald File
