Data released by the FBI revealed that bank robberies in New Mexico increased by 50% so far this year.
KOAT reported that as of Oct. 13, there have been 30 robberies this year, compared to 13 in 2020 and 19 in 2019.
Douglas Peterson, president of Peterson Properties, LLC, took to social media to speculate that the state’s mask mandate may have attributed to the spike.
"Here is a place where @GovMLG ‘s [asinine] mask mandate [and] @MayorKeller ‘s criminal wasteland combine to ruin another industry and endanger citizens,” Peterson tweeted. “Masks just further embolden robbers at banks, retailers, restaurants, etc.”
Frank Fisher, the FBI’s public affairs specialist, told KOAT that the figure for 2021 is unofficial. He, however, couldn’t say why there’s a more than 50% jump.
“We're not sure exactly why we have increases and decreases in certain years,” Fisher told the ABC affiliate. “We can tell you that most bank robbers have drug addiction issues. So, we think that that may have something to do with it.”
Fisher added that despite the rise in bank robberies, the FBI catches eight out of 10 offenders, statistically.
