Trump: I will always put the needs of our country first
The president addresses The Heritage Foundation.
Citing the rise of violent crime in the United Kingdom, President Trump on Friday urged Americans to stay vigilant on this side of the Atlantic as jihadis continue exporting terror to the West.
“Just out report: 'United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror.' Not good, we must keep America safe!” Trump tweeted.
Trump's message comes a day after the UK's Office of National Statistics published new data showing a surge in violent crime, including knife attacks and sexual offenses, during the past 12 months.
As of the end of June, police in England and Wales registered 5.2 million offenses, a number that was up 13 percent over the previous 12 months, according to The Guardian.
Why are terror attacks in Europe on the rise?
There have been more than 150 ISIS-inspired attacks in Europe since 2014 #Tucker
While the increase has mostly been attributed to the jump in sex and knife crimes, Trump may have focused his comment on the “substantial increase” of attempted murders, which rose about 59 percent in the last year.
ONS said that rise is due largely to the London and Manchester terror attacks, where police recorded 294 attempted murder offenses.
“Today’s figures suggest that the police are dealing with growing volume of crime,” John Flatley, the head of crime stats at ONS, said in a Thursday statement. “While improvements made by police forces in recording crime are still a factor in the increase, we judge that there have been genuine increases in crime – particularly in some of the low incidence but more harmful categories.”
British Police investigate the scene of an acid attack in London in July. (AP)
The ONS report is one of two official sources used to analyze trends in crime, the Press Association reported. The other is the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which gave an estimated total of 10.5 million crimes in the same time frame as the ONS report.
Annual comparisons aren't available until January.
“The recent increases in recorded crime need to be seen in the context of the overall decline in the crime indicated by the Crime Survey of England and Wales,” Flatley said.
The trend of rising violent crime is not unique to the UK.
Terror attacks in Europe: A timeline
European cities from London to Paris have become frequent targets for ISIS and terrorists. Here is a look back at some of the recent acts of terrorism across Europe.
Across Europe, the total number of intentional homicides – which include deaths that are the result of a terror attack – was at 4,528, a 4.3 percent rise between 2014 and 2015. Updated figures are expected to be released next year.
In Germany, intelligence officials said in October the number of potential Islamic terrorists had risen to 1,870. The German BfV, the domestic security agency, defines these people as radical extremists it believes are willing and able to carry out an attack -- but who can’t be arrested because they haven't yet committed a crime, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Agency officials said, in addition to these potential attackers, they worry about an increasingly desperate ISIS terror group turning to radicalized children to carry out their attacks.
“We have to keep an eye on this risk and find a fitting concept to combat it,” BfV chief, Hans-Georg Maassen, said in a statement Thursday.
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