"Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Pete Hegseth said on "Outnumbered" Tuesday that the crime surge in major cities across America has nothing to do with people struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, it's being fueled by "left-wing policies." A recent rash of thefts by fast-moving mobs at stores in the Bay Area and outside Minneapolis were organized on social media and committed by people who often didn’t know one another, according to law-enforcement officials.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/flash-mob-thieves-social-media-plan-crimes

WHITE HOUSE SAYS THERE ARE A 'RANGE OF REASONS' FOR INCREASE IN CRIME STEMMING FROM COVID PANDEMIC

PETE HEGSETH: It’s one thing if these are gangs, existing organizations that are leveraging opportunities. It’s another thing if it's regular people ultimately that are inclined to commit crimes seeking brand-new opportunity, a brand-new wide open space where the police have been told to effectively stand down or are demoralized or they’ve been defunded so there aren’t as many of them. They can’t be as proactive, they can’t be everywhere and then you have a catch-and-release policy where people are let out right away so there is effectively no consequence.

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The only thing COVID has to do with it is they’ve got the masks, COVID has nothing to do with this. It has everything to do with left-wing Democrats making crime easy, making targets soft and making it impossible for law enforcement to do their jobs. But now, putting apps together to organize, it's just too easy.

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Pete Hegseth on 'Outnumbered': Crime spikes are about left-wing policies, not COVID

Police report some recent smash-and-grabs were organized on social media