Violent crime kept falling across many of the nation's largest cities through June, with homicides down 17.2% from the first half of 2025, according to preliminary data reviewed by Axios.

Why it matters: The decline now spans two presidencies — it began falling under President Biden after the pandemic-era surge, and has kept dropping under President Trump.

Zoom in: Crime in Boston is going down, but violence is getting worse

• While the city mirrors the national plunge in murders, overall violent crime ticked up slightly.
• Homicides plummeted 52% in the first half of 2026, dropping from 21 to 10. Reported rapes also fell by roughly 24%.
• Yes, but: Aggravated assaults jumped more than 7% (from 1,155 to 1,240), pushing the city's total violent crime numbers slightly higher than the same period last year, according to the Major Cities Chiefs Association's (MCCA) survey.

Trump came into office casting America as being overrun by crime at a time when the national numbers were already declining dramatically.

• As that decline has continued during his watch he's taken credit for it, often linking it to his deployment of the National Guard in cities such as Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., to reduced violent crime rates there.

By the numbers: An Axios analysis of the MCCA data on 66 large U.S. communities found drops in violent crime in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

• Homicides fell 17.2%.
• Robberies dropped 16.6%.
• Rapes declined 6.2%.
• Aggravated assaults fell 5.7%.
• Taken together, the four categories were down about 8.3%, for roughly 14,200 fewer reported violent crimes, according to the Axios review.

Zoom in: The homicide drops are especially striking in several cities that have struggled with high levels of violence.

• D.C. reported 46 homicides, down 43.9% from 82 in the first half of 2025.
• Homicides in Memphis fell 43.7%, from 119 killings to 67, and 38.3% in Houston, from 154 to 95.
• Philadelphia recorded 83 homicides, down 27.2% from 114.

The intrigue: Aurora, Colo. — a city Trump falsely singled out as being overrun by Venezuelan immigrant gangs during the 2024 election — saw a 58.8% drop in homicides.

Caveat: Some of the biggest percentage drops came in places with relatively few killings to begin with — which can make the declines look particularly striking.

• Newark fell 64.7% from 17 to six homicides, Raleigh fell 63.6% from 11 to four, for example.

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Two violent incidents in Boston's busiest hubs this week are making the public question declining citywide and national crime rates.

• A man was stabbed to death Wednesday evening on an escalator at South Station during rush hour.
• Boston police found a body near TD Garden's parking garage the same evening.

Why it matters: Both locations are high-traffic areas near transit and entertainment venues

• The incidents were probably witnessed, or at least felt, by far more residents and commuters than the typical one-off violent crime in less dense neighborhoods.

Yes, but: National data shows homicides down 52% in Boston through the first half of 2026, continuing a trend that predates this year.

Between the lines: The incidents echo recent complaints from Downtown Boston residents and business owners who insist there's an increase in robberies, shoplifting and drug activity following an earlier murder on Boston Common.

What's next: Boston Police and the Suffolk County DA's office are investigating the South Station stabbing.

• No additional details have been released in the TD Garden case.

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A federal judge in Boston dismissed the Trump administration's antisemitism lawsuit against Harvard University yesterday.

• It's a setback to the White House's monthslong pressure campaign against Harvard.

Why it matters: The ruling removes one legal front in the administration's push to force elite universities like Harvard into settlements over campus antisemitism and diversity policies.

• Harvard's fight with the government over federal research funding continues in a separate case.

Driving the news: U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns found the Department of Justice's claims didn't show antisemitism at Harvard was ongoing or "institutionalized."

• He called the incidents cited by the government, mostly from the 2023-24 school year, "too isolated and episodic" to sustain a Title VI civil rights violation.

Between the lines: Stearns separately ruled Harvard couldn't be liable for damages tied to incidents before June 2025, because federal law requires formal notice before a school can be penalized.

• The administration's notice came after most of the alleged conduct.

What's next: Harvard's separate appeal over frozen federal funding remains active.

The bottom line: This is a win for Harvard, but it's far from the end of the standoff with Washington.

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🚨 A man and woman suffered serious stab wounds Thursday morning near North Station in what police called a domestic incident. (CBS Boston)

🏢 Fitness tech company Whoop plans to roughly double its Kenmore Square footprint with a 107,000-square-foot lease addition, one of the largest office deals in Greater Boston this year. (BBJ)

🥓 Meat-forward favorite Carl's Oxford Diner has dubbed itself the "Birthplace of Cholesterol." (MassLive)

👶 Nearly half as many newborns were reported to the state's child welfare agency after Massachusetts hospitals gained discretion over automatic reporting for positive opioid drug screens. (WBUR)

• The policy lets clinicians weigh factors like recovery and treatment before reporting a family.

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