A surge in violent crime has thrust Charlotte, North Carolina, into a political firestorm, with Republican leaders hammering Mayor Vi Lyles over what they describe as a widening gap between her public safety message and the city’s lived reality.
According to Fox News, Addul Ali, chair of the North Carolina District 12 GOP, argued that the city’s leadership is presenting a picture that simply doesn’t match conditions on the ground.
“When you are in charge of a city, it’s your job to put the best possible foot forward and create as best of a perception as you can. Now, that perception may or may not match reality. In the case of Charlotte, the perception does not match the reality,” Ali told Fox News Digital.
The critique follows recent federal immigration raids in the region and renewed calls from Republicans to deploy the National Guard—developments that have complicated City Hall’s efforts to highlight signs of improvement.
City officials point to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s third-quarter data, which shows overall crime down 8% from January through September compared with last year. Mayor Lyles has credited increases in police staffing, higher pay, and targeted enforcement with driving that decline.
But those talking points are colliding with rising alarm over violent offenses. Homicides and aggravated assaults have climbed in uptown Charlotte, drawing sharp criticism from GOP lawmakers who say the city is downplaying the severity of the problem.
“It is almost weekly, daily at this point, that we’re hearing about homicides in Charlotte. We’ve averaged about 100 or so homicides annually on this mayor’s watch,” Ali said, describing his attendance at recent vigils for young children killed in the violence.
He also suggested the city’s reporting practices may be contributing to a distorted picture.
“I think the perception they’re trying to create is one thing, but the reality is something different. And obviously, there’s been an epidemic of underreporting of certain crimes to try to gin those statistics. And I think that’s something we’re dealing with potentially here in Charlotte as well.”
Republican lawmakers have formally urged Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to activate the National Guard, citing a series of troubling numbers. In their letter, they warned, “Recently, the city faced eight homicides in seven days. The murder rate in uptown Charlotte is now 200% higher than it was a year ago.”
They also highlighted data from the Fraternal Order of Police showing aggravated assaults with knives or guns rising from 86 in 2024 to 111 in 2025, and personal strong-arm robberies increasing from 26 to 31 during the same span.
The governor has so far resisted those calls, while city leaders maintain that public safety should remain under local control.
Lyles’ leadership has been under scrutiny before, including earlier criticism following the August stabbing of Iryna Zarutska. Nonetheless, she won a fifth term in November.
Ali said her reelection reflected political currents more than enthusiastic backing. “This is the intersection of national and local politics,” he said, arguing that she “benefited from a lot of anti-Trump sentiment in the local election.”
He noted the low turnout in recent municipal contests—around 20 to 21%—as another sign that her victory may not signal strong approval.
“I don’t think that that is necessarily indicative of her doing a good job,” he said. “If we saw a 30 or 40% increase in people specifically voting for her, that would be something we could point to.”
Ali added that some city council members received more votes than Lyles, calling the discrepancy “telling.”
Still, he said the outcome itself was predictable.
“I’m not surprised when a Democrat wins in a Democrat city. I am not shocked to see that,” he said, adding that some voters are unmovable. “There is a group of folks who will vote blue no matter who. There’s nothing you can say – no amount of death, no amount of economic uncertainty – nothing you could say, because Donald Trump’s the ‘evil yellow man,’ and we must vote skin color and party line.”
