On Saturday night, two Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies were shot while sitting in their patrol car in Compton. Black Lives Matter rioters rushed to the hospital, shouting things like "I hope they f**king die," "Death to the police," and "Kill the police." Despite that, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) went on MNSBC on Sunday to talk about "defunding" the police – or what she calls "reimagining" policing in America.
"This is our time to make sure we get rid of Trump and elect someone who is going to be responsive to the policy positions we are advocating for. Biden's economic package is one that gets us a step closer to addressing the economic and social neglect that have went unaddressed for so long," Omar told MSNBC's Ali Velshi.
According to the freshman congresswoman, George Floyd's death "opened people's eyes" to the issues the Minneapolis Police Department has had for decades, like a majority of homicides going unsolved and rape kits allegedly being destroyed.
"The majority of the people in Minneapolis don't trust the Minneapolis police," she said. "When you have an institution that has lost the trust of the people it's supposed to serve, then you have to make a big decision on what you do with that institution. It is going through a process of dismantling that institution and coming together as a community to reimagine what public safety looks like for us."
Omar said that "reimagination" includes having professional address mental health concerns, "stopping the criminalizing of poverty" and having resources sent into the community (although she doesn't say what those resources are).
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"That's a long process and it's one Minneapolis is committed to. Our leaders are committed to it. Our constituents are committed to it. And I believe we are a resilient city and we will come through this with a plan that really provides safety for each and every single person in our city, regardless of what zip code they're living in and what color of the skin that they're in," she explained.
The day two police officers are in the hospital after being ambushed and shot, Ilhan Omar is on TV advocating that we defund police and saying that Joe Biden will be "responsive" to policies she’s pushing. You can’t vote Democrat if you support police. pic.twitter.com/b7GTbgqsxm
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) September 13, 2020
This whole idea of "defunding" the police, "reimagining" the police – whatever you want to call it – is what got us into this mess. This anti-law enforcement sentiment is dangerous. Assuming that all officers are bad apples that are out to harm and even kill people of color is what has officers on edge. It's why Amazon selling disgusting "blue lives murder" shirts are socially acceptable. It's why the deputies in Compton were shot simply for sitting in a parked patrol car. It's why the NYPD's retirement applications increased by 400 percent, because officers are afraid of being targeted because of their profession.
Ilhan Omar needs to stop, take a deep breath and stop adding fuel to the fire. This rhetoric that her and her progressive buddies are pushing encourages this dangerous behavior that is getting innocent people killed, small businesses set ablaze and communities torched to rubble.
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