Johnson blames ‘Democrat DA’ for crime in Shreveport after dig by Gov. Newsom

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – On Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office provided previews from appearances on upcoming Sunday morning political shows, and in one of the clips makes a dig at local authorities for not taking a stance on crime that is tough enough to avoid federal intervention.

Johnson’s appearance on CNN News Central

raised eyebrows as he was asked about an upcoming crime bill that President Donald Trump said the Speaker and Senator John Thune from South Dakota would be introducing. He acknowledged that when lawmakers reconvene in September, GOP leaders will put a comprehensive crime bill up for consideration.

While citing non-specific crime waves and juvenile crime, Johnson said, “Sometimes local governance does not do the job, and the oversight in D.C. is long overdue.”

The conversation turned to Shreveport, which garnered national attention after California Governor Gavin Newsom highlighted the city’s crime rate—stating that Shreveport, which is covered in a portion of the speaker’s district, had a higher per capita murder rate than San Francisco.

When Johnson was asked if or when National Guard troops would be sent into Shreveport, similarly to their occupation of Washington, D.C., the response was aimed at a particular local elected official.

“There’s a lot of good work that’s been done, there’s a lot of reasons for that. But we have a Democrat DA there who has not been prosecuting crime as some more aggressive DAs have done around the country. Soros funded that individual to be elected,” Johnson said.

Spooky Soros aside, it was a slight no one saw coming.

Especially days after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, who has never been painted as a bleeding-heart crime softy, took a moment during a statewide news conference to say the following about the “Democrat DA” in question, “I’m being honest with yall, I’m giving kudos out to the district attorney up in Shreveport. He’s asking for some more warrants. I think this year we will start to look at awarding those district attorneys who are getting serious about prosecuting crime and putting people behind bars, and get them the resources necessary.”

What is more interesting is that on the heels of Johnson’s dig, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office shared news that a teen accused of a heinous crime in 2024 was found guilty of manslaughter in juvenile court. The DA specified that the teen’s age, 14, at the time of the crime, prevented him from being transferred to adult court; otherwise, he would have been tried as an adult. Indictments and convictions with lengthy sentences for violent offenders, repeat offenders, and those who commit sexual crimes come from the DA’s office regularly.

This doesn’t include aggressive crime-fighting measures taken by the Shreveport Police Department, such as the use of drones and the Real-Time Crime Center, which play a significant role in successful prosecutions.

Governor Jeff Landry is not handing out political lollipops to seem cool. He could have easily heaped his praise on one of the state’s many Republican district attorneys, J. Schuyler Marvin, who represents neighboring Bossier and Webster, two parishes with significantly lower crime rates. Instead, he commended the work of DA Stewart in a moment when it may have been more politically on-message to denigrate the City of Shreveport. But in a moment of earnest, the governor did what Speaker Johnson refused to do: acknowledge facts.

Landry ran on a tough-on-crime platform, and his first act as governor was to call a special session, which enhanced penalties, lengthened sentences, and repealed key provisions of former Governor John Bel Edwards’ signature crime legislation, including the lowering of the age at which juveniles could be prosecuted as adults. Landry also established a new division within the Louisiana State Police, known as “Troop NOLA.”

To many in the fan stands, this is just politics as usual. However, Governor Newsom’s decision to adopt a less conventional approach appears to have caught the Speaker off guard, putting Speaker Johnson’s rhetoric and the governor’s understanding of the state’s reality at odds.

Law enforcement agencies across the state, including the Shreveport Police Department and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, share crime reporting data, which can be submitted via the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). That data is then aggregated by the FBI and shared for transparency, to inform policy, and for research purposes. The 2024 FBI NIBRS crime data is available to view via an interactive map on their website.

The KTAL News Digital awaits a response for an interview request with the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office.