Baltimore residents expressed concern about their city, noting the frequent shootings, rampant drug sales, and widespread poverty, amid focus on the Maryland city after President Donald Trump called parts of it filthy and rat-infested.
“Would it be safe to say that Baltimore is in a crisis?” Lawrence Jones, a Fox News reporter, asked a resident.
“I would honestly say yes, from the drug selling to the killings, the poverty, it’s just crazy,” the resident responded.
“I see poverty, I see crime as a way of life,” another Baltimore resident said. “I think [the leaders] sold out.”
Earlier today..
Lawrence Billy Jones III စာစုတင်ရာတွင် အသုံးပြုမှု ၂၀၁၉၊ ဇူလိုင် ၃၀၊ အင်္ဂါနေ့
“I personally do not want to live in Baltimore anymore and I’m afraid to raise a family here, and this is my home,” said another resident.
“I just see a city going wrong,” said another resident, who said he’d lived in Baltimore for 58 years. “It was such an honor and a pleasure to live here. And what I see now when I drive through I’m almost in tears.”
The interviews with residents aired on “Fox & Friends” on the morning of July 30.
Benny Johnson, a former reporter who now works for Turning Point USA, a college group promoting conservative values, said that he went to the district of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) and spoke with dozens of residents.
On being ‘Rat Infested’:
– *Every* person I spoke with *confirmed* that the district was rat infested
– This man told me that rats the “size of cats” run through his house regularly
– One woman told me rats have “taken over” her neighborhood
– One called it a “plague of rats” pic.twitter.com/Sccxl2qRjh— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 29, 2019
On crime in Rep. Cummings’ district:
– Every constituent said that murders, shootings, drugs run rampant.
– Many told me they were scared & do not go outside after dark.
– One elderly man, “It did not used to be this way. Now we kill each other. Why? Because no one has a job.” pic.twitter.com/h221SnGXpd— Benny (@bennyjohnson) July 29, 2019
Addressing Trump’s criticism of Baltimore being “infested with rats,” Johnson wrote: “*Every* person I spoke with *confirmed* that the district was rat infested. This man told me that rats the ‘size of cats’ run through his house regularly. One woman told me rats have ‘taken over’ her neighborhood. One called it a ‘plague of rats.'”
A resident showed Johnson a flyer recently sent by the Baltimore City Department of Public Works that urged residents to take steps to prevent rats, including using a trash can with a tight-fitting lid and keeping their yards free of high grass.
According to Orkin, Baltimore was ninth in the nation on its Rattiest Cities list from September 2017 to September 2018 and first in the nation in 2018 for bed bug treatments.
Johnson said that he saw piles of trash and that residents blamed the trash for the infestation. He also noted a number of abandoned homes and that residents expressed fear of going out after dark due to numerous shootings and drug dealers.
More trash. More concerned residents. People live in the home with the silver van. This is @RepCummings district. This has nothing to do with race. Let us all pray the city removes the trash & install cameras to catch the individuals dumping on the property. #WestBaltimore pic.twitter.com/CCaRH5c0aO
— Kimberly Klacik (@kimKBaltimore) July 27, 2019
Republican strategist Kimberly Klacik also released videos and pictures showing the part of Baltimore represented by Cummings.
In one, a resident, Michelle, told her that what Trump said “was definitely true” and she feels elected officials representing Baltimore aren’t doing their job.
Michelle added about Cummings: “He’s worried more about [caring for illegal aliens at the border] than his own people.”