BOSTON—The mayor of Boston has a new enemy in her war on crime — not the thieves ransacking stores, not the drug dealers peddling fentanyl on Mass & Cass — but the narrative itself.

In jaw-dropping remarks to WBUR, Mayor Michelle Wu declared Boston’s crime fears to be nothing more than “a narrative battle,” even as police data shows shoplifting has exploded 15 percent in a single year.

Shampoo, detergent, deodorant — all of it now locked behind glass in pharmacies across the city. Families dodge addicts and dealers at the infamous Mass & Cass corridor. But Wu says the real problem isn’t the chaos, it’s how people talk about it.

And her solution? Lawyers. Wu admitted she is “exploring legal options” to block the National Guard if the federal government tries to send troops into Boston — a move former President Donald Trump has floated as part of his law-and-order crusade.

Trump has already flexed the Guard in other cities. In Washington, D.C., Guard deployments have been credited with slashing violent crime. In Memphis, soldiers are backing up police. In Portland, 200 troops are on the way. And in Chicago, memories still burn from the 2020 riots, when mobs looted the Magnificent Mile and the Illinois National Guard was called in to restore order after millions in damage. Now Chicago is again being openly discussed as a target for Trump’s next crackdown.

“This is the most fundamental underlying narrative battle that’s happening right now in the country,” Wu lectured, brushing off calls for tougher action.

To critics, it’s the height of arrogance: a mayor acting like a grad student debating semantics while corner stores are fortified like banks. In other cities, Guard deployments have been used when crime or unrest overwhelmed local police. In Boston? Wu says she’ll sue.

The picture is brutal: a city drowning in theft and drugs while its mayor chases “narratives” and prepares for courtroom theatrics.

Boston residents don’t want another lecture. They want their streets back.