Washington, 200 murders since the beginning of the year: violence on the rise in all major US cities

Washington recorded its 200th murder since the beginning of the year on Monday. It is the first time since 2004 that this psychological threshold has been exceeded, confirming the dramatic increase in the level of violence in the capital and other large cities of the United States. The 200th victim is a man, not yet identified by the police, killed with a firearm shortly after 10.15 pm in the south-eastern area of ​​the city. According to data updated in September by the Council on Criminal Justice, a Washington institution, homicides increased in 29 major cities in the United States, compared to the same period last year. FBI data reports that killings increased nationwide by 30 percent in 2020. Baltimore passed the 300 homicide mark for the seventh consecutive year, while Philadelphia hit the 496 homicide mark on Sunday. 14 percent more than the same period last year. According to the authorities, there is no single explanation for the increase in violence. Among the reasons taken into consideration, the spread of illegal firearms, the indiscriminate use that is made of them even in the most banal disputes, in addition to the blocking of the machinery of justice due to the pandemic, which led to a halt in trials and the emptying of prisons.