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(The Center Square) – 2025 was a deadlier year in Milwaukee after the city’s police department reported a jump in homicides last year.
Milwaukee’s homicide database shows 142 people were killed in the city in 2025, compared to 132 in 2024. That is an 8% increase.
Milwaukee Police are not offering any thoughts as to why more people were killed in 2025 than 2024.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the spike in homicides is “vexing.”
The murder increase in Milwaukee stands out, in part, because 2025 saw fewer murders in most big cities. Washington, D.C reported a 31% drop in homicides, while Chicago reported 30% fewer killings. New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans also reported a drop in homicides in 2025.
Nationwide, the FBI said homicides fell almost 20% in the last year.
Milwaukee did see a double digit drop in other crimes, however.
The police database shows a 19% drop in non-fatal shootings. Milwaukee Police say 515 people were shot and survived in 2025, down from 637 in 2024.
Aggravated assaults fell 22%, and robberies dropped 28%. But the biggest year-over-year decline in crime in Milwaukee came from carjacking cases.
The police database reported a 49% drop in carjackings, from 513 in 2024 down to 264 in 2025.
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are reacting to President Donald Trump's announcement of the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
In a post to social media, Trump announced the U.S. carried out a "large scale strike" against Venezuela, capturing Maduro and his wife.
The two are in U.S. custody and charged with "narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.," according to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., praised Trump's decision-making and called Maduro an illegitimate dictator. He said the Venezuelan leader was running a "vast drug-trafficking operation."
Cotton also said he was briefed on Maduro's capture by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He said Rubio confirmed Maduro was in U.S. custody.
"The interim government in Venezuela must now decide whether to continue the drug trafficking and colluding with adversaries like Iran and Cuba or whether to act like a normal nation and return to the civilized world," Cotton said. "I urge them to choose wisely."
Similarly, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said she fully supports Trump's actions in Venezuela.
"Nicolas Maduro will face justice on American soil," Blackburn said. "I fully support the Trump administration for doing what is needed to protect American lives."
House Republican chair Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., also emphatically backed President Trump's decision-making in a post on social media.
"President Trump has cracked down on drug trafficking harder than any President in history," McClain wrote. "Maduro is a narco-terrorist. Period. His illegitimate regime floods our country with deadly drugs and Americans pay the price. President Trump didn’t look the other way; he acted. That’s what leadership looks like, and it’s how you protect the American people."
