Washington state legal candidate Matt Larkin is running on a tough-on-crime platform predicated on encouraging law enforcement in an effort to”make offense illegal ” amid skyrocketing offense and failed liberal leadership in Seattle.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News,” Larkin said that skyrocketing violent crime, rising homelessness and the expanding number of assaults on police officers motivated him to jump in the race.
“There is an astounding failure of left handed prosecutors to pursue charges against criminals and it makes us all unsafe. They refuse to prosecute crime, and I’m running on a stage to generate crime prohibited ,” Larkin told Fox News.
Last summer, Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan received heavy backlash because of her comment referring to a violent occupy demonstration, known as the”Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” (CHOP), at the east precinct of Seattle as a harmless”summer of love”
When asked about the rioters in Seattle and in Portland, Oregon, over the summertime — those who assaulted courthouses, assaulted police officers and have gone trials — Larkin called it a problem, but said he’s”not surprised” He said that 89 percent of arrests for all crimes in the city of Seattle go without any resolution.
“Our Seattle town prosecutor won’t prosecute crime and is making it simpler and simpler to commit crime,” said Larkin. “If crimes go without any resolution, folks think they can get away with anything. If you give an inch, criminals will take a mile.”
Violent crime, including murders and kidnappings, has gone up in Seattle over the past couple of years.
Larkin specifically pointed to troubling statistics showing that the frequency of individual trafficking incidents in Washington state have risen nearly 2,000% over the past couple of years.
Larkin also told Fox News that Biden’s hypocrisy was revealed by the government’s decision to put violence caused by rioters in Seattle on the summer on the backburner, while actively pursing instances contrary to the U.S. Capitol rioters.
“If [the democrats] were intellectually honest, they’d want to be investigating Portland, they would want to be exploring Seattle, they would want to be investigating the riots all over the country we watched and the anarchy and violence we watched.”
Larkin elaborated,”These are real violent instances that occurred, and to ignore one and actively pursue another, isn’t leadership. It’s sad to see this by the Biden government, but I am surprised.”
Support for funding the authorities, not defunding or draining away resources, is also close to Larkin’s heart.
Larkin said that especially during the summer, law enforcement officers were being abused by rioters who had been”literally trying to burn them living in precincts around Seattle.”
“They threw a flaming spear into the window of an occupied police car and attempted to burn the officer living. These items are real, these are not stories for dramatic impact, these things are actually happening,” said Larkin.
“Law enforcement needs our help, particularly since Seattle is still slashing the police budget” Larkin continued,”When crime is skyrocketing, that isn’t the time to cut your law enforcement budget. It will exacerbate the issue.”
The 8th district of Washington is a swing district bordering bright blue Seattle. It was ruled by Republicans since the 1980s until Schrier flipped the seat to the Democrats’ column in 2018.
Larkin won the 8th district over 51% of the vote throughout the AG race in 2020, and the Washington conservative factors into the figure as proof that the chair can be obtained by a Republican.
Larkin told Fox News that running for congress is”a heart mission” and also an unique opportunity to enact real change in the country and across the nation.
The longtime Washington native, resides in the country with his wife and four young children. He also received his law degree from Gonzaga University and previously worked in the George W. Bush White House and as a criminal prosecutor.