Steve Bannon has publicly dismissed the latest crime statistics released by the FBI, asserting that the public does not trust the agency under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, The Hill reported. The former adviser to President Trump made these comments on his program, War Room, on Monday. His skepticism arrives just as the federal government has published preliminary data indicating a downward trend in criminal activity across the United States.
According to the official figures released by the FBI, violent crime in the country saw a decline of 9.1 percent between March 2025 and February of this year. This broad category includes significant drops in specific offenses, with robberies decreasing by 19.1 percent and murders falling by 18.7 percent. Additionally, reports of rape decreased by 7.2 percent, while aggravated assaults dropped by 6.9 percent. These findings align with a similar trend observed in the previous reporting period, where violent crime fell by 9.3 percent from 2024 to 2025.
Property crime has also followed this downward trajectory, as the FBI reported a 12 percent decrease during the same timeframe. Breaking down those property crimes, motor vehicle thefts saw a substantial reduction of 21.6 percent. Burglaries and larcenies also trended downward, with declines of 15.7 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively. These figures come on the heels of a 12.4 percent drop in property crime recorded between 2024 and 2025.
Despite these numbers, Bannon remains unconvinced of their accuracy
“Nobody believes the crime statistics anyway, I’m sorry. They still don’t feel comfortable walking down a street in Memphis [or] these other places, unless they see the National Guard,” he stated. His reference to the National Guard points to the deployment of troops to various cities managed by Democrats during the second term of President Trump.
Bannon explicitly told his audience that he has no interest in hearing about these metrics. “I don’t want to hear any crime statistics, I just don’t,” he added. “It’s not going to move the needle, it’s not going to matter in any voting. Let’s have some urgency, let’s light a fire.”
Addressing the FBI Director directly, Bannon said, “Kash, I love you brother, but I don’t want to hear any more statistics about how crime’s coming down, crime’s coming down, all that.” Instead of focusing on data, Bannon expressed a preference for seeing what he described as “perp walks of the deep state.” This terminology references an unproven network of individuals within the federal government that supporters of President Trump believe has been working to sabotage his administration for years.
Bannon, whose own connections to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were previously made public through emails released by the Justice Department, maintains that the official narrative regarding crime simply does not resonate with his view of the current national climate.
The FBI estimates for 2025 were compiled using data submitted by more than 17,000 agencies, covering approximately 96 percent of the population. This represents a growth in participation compared to 2024, when 16,675 agencies contributed. Much of this information, specifically from over 15,000 of those agencies, was submitted via the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS. This system covers nearly 90 percent of the population and saw an increase of nearly 500 agencies compared to the previous year.
The agency notes that these figures remain preliminary. They are subject to change before the final publication of the report titled Reported Crimes in the Nation, 2025, which is slated for release on the FBI Crime Data Explorer website later this year. The current data, as of April 2, 2026, provides a granular look at the frequency of criminal events. On average, a violent crime is reported every 28.2 seconds, while a property crime occurs every 6.0 seconds.
The statistics also highlight the human toll and the operational side of law enforcement. In 2025, there were 53 officers feloniously killed in the line of duty, and 90,178 officers were assaulted. Additionally, 28 officers were accidentally killed during the same period.
The data shows that 47.4 percent of violent crimes were cleared by arrest or exceptional means, while 17.4 percent of property crimes reached a similar resolution. An exceptional clearance occurs when elements beyond the control of law enforcement prevent an arrest, such as the death of an offender, a victim’s refusal to cooperate, or the denial of extradition.
While the FBI continues to compile these detailed reports, the divide between official data and the perspective voiced by figures like Bannon remains a notable aspect of the current national discourse.
Published: Jun 30, 2026 02:15 pm