CNN's Alisyn Camerota gave Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender a chance to clarify her stance on the police, after the council signaled their intentions to abolish their police force. She wasn't really saying that she wanted to "dismantle" the police was she? That she foresaw a "police-free future?"
Oh yes, she was.
"Yeah, and you know a lot of us were asked if can you imagine a future without police back in 2017 when we were running for office," Bender told Camerota Monday morning. "And I answered 'yes' to that question. To me that future is a long way away and it would take an enormous amount of investment in things that we know work to keep people safe."
Minn. City Council President Lisa Bender (@MplsWard10) on vote to “dismantle” police department: “Yes,” I can imagine a “police-free future.” pic.twitter.com/tLL6bEwzm0
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 8, 2020
Bender wants to "stop investing in a militarized police force," and instead funnel those funds to other "safety issues" that the community really needs like stable housing, and access to health care.
Camerota didn't give up. She gave Bender one more chance for clarification and presented her with a hypothetical: What if her home was broken into in the middle of the night? Who would she call?
"Yes, I hear that loud and clear from a lot of my neighbors," Bender admitted. "And I know — and myself, too, and I know that that comes from a place of privilege."
What she went on to explain is that for those in minority communities, calling the police could result in "more harm being done."
She's not the only official who believes we'd be better off defunding the police in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. In New York, where law and order is needed more than ever these days, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would be moving funds away from the NYPD and into social services.
Mayor Bill de Blasio: "We will be moving funding from the NYPD to youth initiatives and social services." pic.twitter.com/5EG69ZcjQw
— The Hill (@thehill) June 8, 2020
Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) said that the Minneapolis City Council is “is being very thoughtful” for dismantling their police department.
One lawmaker who doesn't support this idea of abolishing police? The Minneapolis mayor. Yet he allowed himself to be booed out a protest this weekend after admitting as much.