On Wednesday, April 12, Coava Coffee Roasters, a chain of coffee shops based in Portland, Oregon, announced that it will close one of its locations due to what it describes as “extreme” levels of violence and crime that its employees have suffered. Coava Coffee Roasters expressed their deep regret for having to make such a decision to shut down the store. Still, it was made in response to the safety concerns of its staff. 

As the store explained in an Instagram post, “We have decided to permanently close our downtown Portland cafe (1171 SW Jefferson St) with the last full day of operation being this Thursday, April 13. The team members at this cafe have been on the front line enduring extreme violence and criminal activity almost daily for the last few years– crime and violence that is only increasing in frequency and severity. 

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The closure of Coava Coffee Roasters is merely the latest predictable result in an increasing rise of crime in major American cities and the misgovernment of left-wing mayors and politicians. 

In the District of Columbia, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability reported that carjackings increased by 76% compared to last year. Additionally, The Atlantic has conceded that there is a crime wave in the United States. However, as a leftist-orientated publication, it predictably blamed social factors for the rise of crime rather than soft-on-crime policies resulting from movements such as Defund the Police, depenalization, or under-incarceration. 

As Stephen Moore explained at American Greatness, “The nation’s 10 largest counties have lost more than 1 million residents since 2019. The biggest losers have been the counties home to New York, San Francisco, and Chicago’s Cook County. Even Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county, with just under 10 million people, is now contracting”. He summarizes, “Welcome to the real-world impact of progressivism. Instead of worker paradises, the Left has transitioned our once-shining cities into slums, murder zones, homeless encampments, and boarded-up stores.” 

Some political commentators have noticed that the soft-on-crime approach is a problem for Democrats, and perhaps recognizing this reality is the reason why Presiden Joe Biden has sought to, at least try, to distance himself from the more progressive elements of his party on issues regarding policing and crime by for example signing the repeal of D.C.’s recent crime bill. 

Regardless, the situation in America’s major cities is quite awful. Politico recently reported, “America’s mayors are on the frontlines of crises hitting cities across the country, finding themselves consumed with fighting drug epidemics, homelessness, and the devastating effects of climate change.” And as the results in Chicago demonstrated, there is no guarantee that voters will elect people who are tough on crime to reverse course.

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