Fact Check: Cory Booker Vows End to ‘Mass Violence’ After Overseeing Spike in Crime as Newark Mayor

During CNN and the New York Times’ Democrat Debate on Tuesday night, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) vowed to end the “scourge of mass violence,” though he previously oversaw a rise in crime as mayor of Newark, New Jersey.

“There are millions of Americans where this is a daily nightmare,” Booker said. “If I’m president of the United States, I will bring an urgency to this issue and make sure we end the scourge of mass violence in our country.”

Despite his promise, Booker oversaw a rise in crime while he was mayor of Newark between 2006 and 2013. As NJ.com detailed, Booker reduced the Newark police department by more than 160 officers and homicides increased to 112 in 2013 — the highest level of homicides since the 1990s.

In a Politifact fact check from 2013, the left-leaning site rated the claim that crime increased under Booker as Newark mayor as mostly true.

Between 2007 and 2012, for instance, violent crime increased in Newark with Booker as mayor, because of a spike in armed robberies.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.