Gov. Brian Kemp said he'd back law enforcement to keep Georgians safe after Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms blamed crime surges on reopening too quickly. | Office of the Governor
Gov. Brian Kemp said he'd back law enforcement to keep Georgians safe after Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms blamed crime surges on reopening too quickly. | Office of the Governor
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp didn't take Atlanta's Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms comments that put the blame on the city's spike in crime on the reopening of the state during the pandemic sitting down.
Bottoms said that the crime wave in Atlanta was due to lack of gun laws, school being out due to summer vacation and the governor’s choice to make Georgia one of the first states to begin reopening, Fox News reported.
"According to the mayor, rising crime in our capital city is everyone’s fault but her’s. Getting Georgians back to work, back to school, and back to normal didn’t lead to more crime. The left’s anti-police, soft-on-crime agenda is to blame," Kemp said on Twitter.
Fox News said that Bottoms also blamed Atlanta's increase in crime on lax gun laws and young people being out of school despite getting kids back in the classroom being one of the reasons Republicans wanted to open back up.
Kemp told Fox News "plenty" of other states were open too including Colorado, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.
"I'll continue to back our law enforcement and give them the resources and support they need to keep Georgians safe," Kemp Tweeted.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported murders in Atlanta have risen 58% from 2020, a year that ended with 157 homicides which was 58 more than the year prior making it one of the deadliest in decades despite COVID restrictions and lockdowns.
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