President Trump early Friday tweeted about rising crime rates in the United Kingdom “amid the spread of Radical Islamic terror,” following a report by the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics that crime in England and Wales rose 13 percent over the last year.
“Just out report: ‘United Kingdom crime rises 13% annually amid spread of Radical Islamic terror.’ Not good, we must keep America safe!” Trump tweeted.
According to the report, however, much of that was not related to terrorism. The report said, “of the 664 homicides recorded in the year ending June 2017, there were 35 relating to the London and Manchester terror attacks.”{mosads}
The report also said that sexual offenses were up 19 percent; the number of homicides increased by 46, excluding the Manchester and London terror attacks; and much of the rise in violent offenses was due to the addition of new crime recording categories such as “violence without injury” and “stalking and harassment.”
Crime minister Sarah Newton told BBC News “much” of the rise in violent offenses was because of better crime recording.
Trump’s tweets come after a second federal district judge has put a hold on his latest travel ban.
A federal district judge in Maryland temporarily blocked the majority of the president’s ban on immigration by nationals from eight countries, but he said the president could still ban individuals from North Korea, business officials from Venezuela and individuals lacking a credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.
Trump has cited terrorist attacks in the U.K. as a cause for tougher vetting in the U.S. in the past.
Last month, Trump advocated for a “larger, tougher and more specific” travel ban in response to a bomb explosion in London’s subway system.