Crime Doesn’t Check Your Political Affiliation

 

Two Shootings. One Night. One Big Problem With the Political Narrative.

There is a narrative I keep hearing from MAGA: crime is rampant in Democrat-run cities because Democrats are supposedly incapable of keeping people safe. Apparently, crime has a political affiliation now. Last night should be a pretty damn good reminder that it doesn't.

On August 21, 2026, Kelso Police responded to a shooting in the 1300 block of South 13th Avenue. A man reported that an unknown masked male had confronted him and shot him at least twice. The victim suffered injuries to his head and chest and was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest for treatment. Thankfully, his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Later that same night, Longview Police responded to a domestic violence call in the 5600 block of Mt. Solo Road. That situation escalated into a shooting. Officers found a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and attempted to save him, but he died at the scene. The suspect fled on foot and was taken into custody approximately two hours later. Through the basic power of deduction, the author of this blog has identified this shooter as Josiah Karr.

So here we are. Two shootings, one night, one fatality and one person seriously injured, both happening right here in Cowlitz County.

Here's the Part That Doesn't Fit the MAGA Talking Point

Kelso and Longview aren't exactly sitting in some bastion of progressive politics. Cowlitz County is a pretty damn red county. Anyone who pays even minimal attention to local politics knows that.

There are plenty of MAGA voters here. There are plenty of MAGA politicians and local officials. There are plenty of people who have spent years telling us that the problem with crime is Democrats, liberal cities and progressive policies.

Yet somehow crime managed to show up anyway. Imagine that. Apparently the criminals didn't check the voter registration statistics before pulling the trigger.

Crime Doesn't Care Who You Voted For

This is where political arguments about crime get ridiculous. If a shooting happens in Seattle, Portland, Chicago or some other heavily Democratic city, we're told it proves Democrats have failed.

If the exact same thing happens in a conservative community, suddenly we're supposed to talk about individual circumstances, mental health, domestic violence, drugs, bad choices or anything else that doesn't require admitting that maybe crime isn't a partisan phenomenon.

You can't have it both ways. If crime is caused by Democrats being in charge, then someone needs to explain why crime still happens in communities overwhelmingly governed and represented by Republicans. If conservative leadership magically prevents crime, someone forgot to tell the people who were shot in Kelso and Longview.

People Are More Important Than Political Points

This is the part that seems to get lost when people turn crime into a political weapon. The victim in Kelso doesn't give a damn whether the person investigating his shooting is a Democrat or Republican. The family of the man killed on Mt. Solo Road doesn't care what political party the mayor, sheriff, city council member or county commissioner belongs to.

They care that someone they love is alive. They care that the person responsible is held accountable. They care that their neighborhoods are safe. That's it. Nobody sitting in a hospital recovering from a gunshot wound gives a shit about somebody's favorite political talking point.

Maybe We Should Stop Pretending Crime Is a Partisan Disease

There are legitimate conversations to have about crime. We can talk about policing, prosecution, domestic violence, guns, addiction, mental health, poverty, repeat offenders, incarceration, rehabilitation and all the other complicated factors that contribute to crime. Those conversations might actually accomplish something.

What doesn't accomplish anything is pretending crime belongs exclusively to the other political party. Crime doesn't care if your city council is Republican. Crime doesn't care if your mayor is a Democrat. Crime doesn't care whether your county voted for Trump by 10 points or 50 points. Crime doesn't look at a map and say, "Sorry, this is a Republican neighborhood. I'll come back later."

It happens wherever people happen to live.

If We're Going to Talk About Crime, Let's Actually Talk About Crime

I'm tired of watching politicians and political activists cherry-pick tragedies to score partisan points. If a shooting happens in a Democratic city, talk about it. If a shooting happens in a Republican county, talk about it. If someone is killed in a red community, that life is just as valuable as someone killed in a blue one.

If we're serious about reducing crime, then let's stop treating dead and injured people like ammunition for the next election. Last night's shootings in Kelso and Longview don't prove that Republicans are responsible for crime. They don't prove Democrats are responsible for crime either.

They prove something much simpler: crime isn't political. People are.

Maybe it's time we stopped making public safety another excuse to divide ourselves into two groups screaming across a political fence while the actual problem sits right in the middle of the damn yard.