FBI: US murders jumped by nearly 30% from 2019 to 2020

By Andy Roesgen

CHICAGO, United States (AA) - Murder and manslaughter increased in 2020 by 29.4% over 2019, according to new data released by the FBI on Monday.

The increase is the largest since the FBI began compiling data since the 1960's. Although the jump in violent crime was already known, the FBI's data compiled from law enforcement agencies around the country confirmed more detailed aspects of US crime.

The data shows that murders by guns make up more than 2 out of 3 murders. The data also shows that violent crime rose by 5.6% from 2019 to 2020, and assaults increased by 12%. Property crimes decreased by 7.8%.

Officials say they are seeing murders increase again in 2021, but at a slower pace than in 2020. In Chicago, one of the nation's hot spots for gun violence, the number of shootings continues to reach double digits on typical weekends. Earlier this month, between Thursday night, Sept. 16 and Friday morning, the city recorded 23 people shot and 4 killed in gun violence.

The reason for the spike in murders vary. Criminologists have pointed to economic hardships in the wake of the pandemic.

Conservatives, meanwhile, have blamed liberal, large cities for restricting police officers in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020. Liberals have long blamed easy access to guns and the US Justice Department has been taking a more aggressive stance toward illegal gun trafficking, as have the city of Chicago and the state of New York.