The chickens are coming home to roost for soft-on-crime politicians nationwide.
One Minneapolis Democrat just learned the painful truth about playing games with public safety.
And reality just smacked this Democrat who built his career on criminal coddling.
Minneapolis City Councilman Gets Taste of His Own Medicine
Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osman spent years championing radical leftist policies that treat criminals like victims and victims like afterthoughts.
He pushed "restorative justice" programs that let criminals skip consequences through feel-good talking circles.
He diverted money from police to fund "alternative response" programs that prioritize therapy over arrests.
He even supported the movement to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department after George Floyd's death.
Now Osman has learned firsthand what his policies actually produce.
Just days after winning reelection on his soft-on-crime platform, Osman became the victim of an armed carjacking in his own district.
Two teenage criminals, ages 15 and 16, threatened him with mace and stole his vehicle.¹
The teens then crashed into multiple cars and a fire hydrant before fleeing on foot.
Police caught both suspects, but not before they'd terrorized other victims earlier that same evening.
Democrat Suddenly Discovers Consequences When It's His Own Safety
For years, Osman has been one of Minneapolis' most vocal advocates for treating criminals with kid gloves.
In 2020, when he was first elected as part of the post-George Floyd wave, Osman told reporters the Minneapolis Police Department was "too powerful" and needed its resources redirected to community programs.²
"The resource[s] and funding they get—we should definitely look at it," Osman said. "And maybe we should take those resources and spend it in [the] community."²
He got his wish. The city council moved to reallocate millions from police to programs that emphasize "cultural sensitivity" and "violence prevention."
Osman personally introduced legislation that shifted $650,000 from public safety to non-police programming.³
His 2024 campaign platform explicitly promised to "expand restorative justice programs for low-level offenses" and increase "alternative" responses to 911 calls.⁴
But when two juvenile criminals put a weapon in his face and stole his car, Osman suddenly remembered what consequences actually mean.
"I'm not a legal expert, but there has to be some kind of consequences with the action," Osman told reporters after his attack. "If individuals know they can get away [with] this kind of heinous behavior or crimes, they're going to continue doing it again."⁵
The Numbers Don't Lie About Minneapolis' Crime Disaster
Osman's personal wake-up call comes as Minneapolis drowns in the exact type of crime his policies enabled.
The city recorded 329 carjackings in 2024 — more than any other city in Minnesota and a 21% increase from the previous year.⁶
Minneapolis continues to account for a disproportionate share of the state's violent crime, while no other Minnesota city approaches its murder rate.⁶
These aren't just statistics. They represent real victims whose safety Osman sacrificed on the altar of progressive ideology.
The irony is devastating. While Osman was busy reallocating police funding and promoting "restorative justice," Minneapolis became a playground for exactly the kind of violent criminals who targeted him.
Research shows restorative justice programs produce minimal impact on recidivism, with studies finding only a 3% reduction in repeat offenses.⁷
Meanwhile, the Minneapolis Police Department lost over 300 officers between 2020 and 2024, creating exactly the enforcement vacuum that emboldens criminals.⁸
Progressive Hypocrisy Meets Street Reality
The most telling part of Osman's response wasn't his sudden call for consequences — it was his complete abandonment of the "restorative justice" rhetoric that got him elected.
Gone were the talking points about "cultural sensitivity" and "alternative responses."
Instead, Osman sounded like every crime victim who's been ignored by his progressive policies.
He thanked the Minneapolis Police Department — the same department he wanted to defund — for their "swift response" in catching his attackers.⁹
He called the carjacking "heinous behavior" that demands punishment — the exact opposite of his campaign platform emphasizing rehabilitation over accountability.
This isn't the first time a Minneapolis council member who voted to dismantle police suddenly needed them when reality struck.
In 2020, the same council that pledged to create a "police-free future" complained bitterly when constituents asked "Where are the police?" as crime exploded across the city.¹⁰
Now Osman joins that club of progressive hypocrites who discover the value of law enforcement only when they become victims themselves.
The tragedy is that Minneapolis residents have been screaming about rising crime for years, only to be lectured about "systemic issues" and "root causes" by politicians like Osman.
It took two teenagers with mace to teach this councilman what common sense should have told him all along: criminals don't care about your feelings, they only understand consequences.
¹ Brian O'Hara, Minneapolis Police Chief, Press Conference, November 12, 2025.
² "Minneapolis City Council questions police on spike in crime," MPR News, September 2020.
³ "Minneapolis City Councilman who was carjacked rethinks policing," Washington Examiner, November 12, 2025.
⁴ Minneapolis Dem Carjacked After Winning Election on 'Restorative Justice' Platform, LifeZette News, November 13, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, 2024 Crime Statistics.
⁷ "The effectiveness of restorative justice programs: A meta-analysis," Sage Publications, 2025.
⁸ "Minneapolis police staffing crisis deepens," Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2024.
⁹ Minneapolis Dem Carjacked After Winning Election on 'Restorative Justice' Platform, LifeZette News, November 13, 2025.
¹⁰ "Minneapolis City Council alarmed by surge in crime," Fox News, September 16, 2020.
