{"id":494,"date":"2025-06-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/?p=494"},"modified":"2025-06-06T15:10:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T15:10:50","slug":"trump-decried-crime-in-america-then-gutted-funding-for-gun-violence-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dangeladvertising.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/05\/trump-decried-crime-in-america-then-gutted-funding-for-gun-violence-prevention\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Decried Crime in America, Then Gutted Funding for Gun Violence Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. LOUIS \u2014 Violent crime was already trending down<\/a> from a covid-era spike when President Donald Trump presented a picture of unbridled crime<\/a> in America on the campaign trail in 2024. Now his administration has eliminated about $500 million in grants to organizations that buttress public safety, including many working to prevent gun violence.<\/p>\n

In Oakland, California, a hospital-based program to prevent retaliatory gun violence lost a $2 million grant just as the traditionally turbulent summer months<\/a> approach. Another $2 million award was pulled from a Detroit program that offers social services and job skills<\/a> to young people in violent neighborhoods. And in St. Louis, a clinic treating the physical and emotional injuries of gunshot victims also lost a $2 million award.<\/p>\n

They are among 373 grants that the U.S. Department of Justice abruptly terminated in April. The largest share of the nixed awards were designated for community-based violence intervention<\/a> \u2014 programs that range from conflict mediation and de-escalation to hospital-based initiatives that seek to prevent retaliation from people who experience violent injuries.<\/p>\n

Gun violence is among America\u2019s most deadly public health crises<\/a>, medical experts say.<\/p>\n

Among programs whose grants were terminated were those for protecting children, victims\u2019 assistance, hate-crime prevention, and law enforcement and prosecution, according to an analysis<\/a> by the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank. The grants totaled $820 million when awarded, but some of that money has been spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are these funds being pulled away from worthy investments that will save lives,\u201d said Thomas Abt<\/a>, founding director of the Violence Reduction Center at the University of Maryland, \u201cbut the way that this was done \u2014 by pulling authorized funding without warning \u2014 is going to create a lasting legacy of mistrust.”<\/p>\n

The Justice Department \u201cis focused on prosecuting criminals, getting illegal drugs off the streets, and protecting all Americans from violent crime,\u201d according to a statement provided by agency spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre. \u201cDiscretionary funds that are not aligned with the administration\u2019s priorities are subject to review and reallocation, including funding for clinics that engage in race-based selectivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Council on Criminal Justice analysis of the terminated grants<\/a> found that descriptions of 31% of them included references to \u201cdiversity,\u201d \u201cequity,\u201d \u201crace,\u201d \u201cracial,\u201d \u201cracism,\u201d or \u201cgender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baldassarre\u2019s statement said the department is committed to working with organizations \u201cto hear any appeal, and to restore funding as appropriate.\u201d Indeed, it restored seven of the terminated grants for victims\u2019 services after Reuters reported on the cuts<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n

But the cuts have already prompted layoffs and reductions<\/a> at other organizations around the country. Five groups filed a lawsuit<\/a> on May 21 to restore the grants in their entirety.<\/p>\n

Joseph Griffin, executive director of the Oakland nonprofit Youth Alive, which pioneered hospital-based violence intervention in the 1990s, said his organization had spent only about $60,000 of its $2 million grant before it was axed. The grant was primarily to support the intervention program and was awarded for a three-year period but lasted just seven months. The money would have helped pay to intervene with about 30 survivors of gun violence to prevent retaliatory violence<\/a>. He\u2019s trying to find a way to continue the work, without overtaxing his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not abandon a survivor of violence at the hospital bedside in the same way that the federal government is abandoning our field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tRelated Links\t<\/h4>\n