Baltimore’s new Mayor Catherine Pugh is sending public school students to the “March for Our Lives” event in Washington, DC. The event has been organized for the students of Parkland who have been repeatedly exploited by the left to push gun control. Pugh is charging the taxpayers of Baltimore for the trip.
Philip Wegmann reports at the Washington Examiner:
Baltimore mayor promises taxpayer money to high school students playing hooky and protesting gun violenceTo succeed in life, stay in school … unless you’re cutting class for the sake of progressive politics.That’s the message Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh delivered to hundreds of high school students playing hooky outside City Hall in protest of gun violence. Shouting through the SWAT team’s microphone, Pugh cheered their little act of delinquency before offering taxpayer cash for the adolescent activists to march on the national capital. Flanked by Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa, the mayor shouted, “Let’s show Washington D.C. that Baltimore matters.”Pugh promised free T-shirts and free lunches if the students will board 60 city buses later this month to protest gun violence. The grade school protestors, in exchange, will provide advocacy and a convenient photo-op for an ambitious politician.But since when have cities become political action committees and their municipal budgets seed money for political organizing? The stunt is irresponsible and borderline abusive.
This report from the local ABC News affiliate claims Pugh was trying to do it with private funding:
Less than a month ago, Baltimore was named the most dangerous city in the United States.
USA Today reported:
Baltimore is the nation’s most dangerous cityThe collective homicide toll for America’s 50 biggest cities dipped slightly in 2017, a USA TODAY analysis of crime data found.The FBI won’t publish its annual comprehensive crime report until later this year, but an early review of police department crime data shows that killings decreased by at least 1% in large jurisdictions compared with 2016.The modest decrease in killings comes after FBI data showed back-to-back years in which homicides rose sharply in large cities. (Homicides in cities with 250,000 or more residents rose by about 15.2% from 2014 to 2015, and 8.2% from 2015 to 2016.)There were 5,738 homicides in the nation’s 50 biggest cities in 2017 compared with 5,863 homicides in 2016, a roughly 2.3% reduction…Baltimore is the big city with the highest per capita murder rate in the nation, with nearly 56 murders per 100,000 people. At 343 murders in 2017, the city tallied the highest per capita rate in its history. Columbus tallied 143 murders — 37 more than 2016 and the most the city has seen in a single year.
I’m just thinking out loud here, but maybe Mayor Pugh should try solving Baltimore’s problems before charging taxpayers to send school kids to left-wing protests.
Featured image via YouTube.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY