Montgomery is no stranger to violent crime. However, a recent slew of brutal shootings and robberies have multiplied the voices calling for city leadership to make public safety a higher priority.
Crime has been a concern even before Reed won his reelection bid in August 2023. However, things intensified last April after an innocent Montgomery woman, Amy Dicks, was left paralyzed from the chest down after getting caught in a highway shootout between two parties.
The city has also seen an uptick in crime targeting the Hispanic population, culminating in a triple murder that occurred in the course of a robbery at a Hispanic grocery store.
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On Sunday, Montgomery law enforcement also responded to the scene of a massive party that ended in over 300 gunshots and 13 injured parties. On Monday, police also responded to the Alabama Center for Commerce building, where bullet holes were found in the upper windows of the building.
While Reed faced criticism over the apparent escalation in violent crime, he faced additional backlash for missing two city council meetings shortly after Dicks’ shooting due to out-of-state engagements. Sunday brought similar critiques as Reed was in Kansas City attending a meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors when news broke of the mass shooting.
Reed’s out-of-town status drew the ire of WAKA personality Estee Morrison, who sarcastically tweeted that she was glad Reed was “safe in another city.”
Reed fired back, dismissing Morrison’s complaints as showing bias.
This is not Reed's first attempt to use Twitter to defend himself. On several occasions after a shooting or violent crime, Reed has posted links of him participating in some anti-gun violence town hall or gun violence summit as a furtive defense of his perceived lack of effort in addressing gun violence.
Reed also frequently blames the state’s gun laws for the city’s violent crime. When Reed isn’t playing Twitter defense, his chief of staff Chip Hill will also go after lawmakers and other critics, claiming that concern over crime in Montgomery is overblown.
Since Sunday’s shooting, Reed has posted veiled attempts at a defense of his administration’s handlining of crime, including reposting a video of left-wing pundit Jon Stewart downplaying the level of gun crime in metropolitan areas, adding only his own laugh emoji. He also posted several news stories on the result of his Kansas City conference while the city endured multiple homicides, robberies and a mass shooting.
Reed also posted an interview with the far-left, state-funded media site Alabama Political Reporter in which he bemoaned the criticism levied against him as “factually inaccurate.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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