Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) once again revealed the radical left’s soft-on-crime mentality, astonishingly claiming that committing a crime “doesn’t make” someone a criminal—it all depends on a person’s “mindset.” According to Breitbart, instead of taking a firm stance on law enforcement, Crockett spent her interview with Netflix star Jonathan Van Ness discussing the supposed hardships of offenders, rather than considering victims or public safety.
Crockett described her time as a public defender as an awakening to supposed “criminal impacts,” saying that understanding why people commit crimes informs her legislative choices. Instead of prioritizing safety, she placed empathy for lawbreakers above responsibility for their actions, arguing, “just because someone has committed a crime, it doesn’t make them a criminal.” According to Crockett, criminality is more about “mindset” than breaking the law, excusing dangerous behavior by speculating about the intent behind illegal acts.
Jasmine Crockett: Committing Crimes Doesn’t Make You a Criminal pic.twitter.com/eb0uBs3s4k
— Liz Peek (@lizpeek) September 19, 2025
This mindset, increasingly common among progressive Democrats, intentionally blurs the line between right and wrong.
“There are crimes that are committed, not because people are criminals, but because they literally are trying to survive,” Crockett reportedly stated, citing Dallas County DA John Creuzot’s refusal to prosecute low-level thefts.
Crockett went further, suggesting that there’s “no good point” in prosecuting crimes committed out of desperation, dismissing the experiences of crime victims and those whose neighborhoods pay the highest price when the law is undermined. By focusing on criminals’ narratives and minimizing personal responsibility, Crockett’s views reflect a dangerous trend where compassion for offenders takes precedence over justice and accountability.
While crime soars in Democrat-run cities, Crockett and her allies advocate selectively ignoring the law and branding reasonable enforcement as “oppressive”—even baselessly accusing President Trump of being “unlawful” for deploying the National Guard to restore order. These priorities make clear: for the progressive left, protecting communities seems less important than rationalizing criminality.
