Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) found out Saturday what it’s like to be canceled when you don’t completely bow to the demands of militant far left activist groups on issues like defunding the police.
But it’s not just radical left-wing movements like Black Lives Matter who are calling for defunding the police.
Privileged “progressive” celebrities like John Legend and Natalie Portman and some Democratic politicians are on board the with the idea, including “Squad” Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) has called for “fully dismantl[ing] these systems of oppression,” which is the equivalent of calling for abolishing police departments.
As the usual suspects demand such radical actions be taken, those who support law enforcement are proposing alternative suggestions to defunding the police, like actor James Woods, a Trump supporter who is known for not mincing words. Here’s what Woods suggested after Brian Fallon, a former spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s failed 2016 presidential campaign, tweeted “defund the police”:
Prior to his work for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Fallon was the Dept. of Justice’s director of public affairs under President Obama’s U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and before that he was the chief spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Woods also didn’t spare AOC from criticism:
Conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin went even further, reminding people who may be on the fence about defunding the police of what this will look like in reality if radical activists get their way:
Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld said celebrities who signed on to the letter calling for police to be defunded should have their calls to 911 blocked and for their security details to not be allowed to purchase firearms, so they would be in the same position as everyone else who could no longer call the police and who otherwise may not be able to afford firearms for personal protection:
“If you want to defund the police, go for it,” he said. “[For] any celebrity who endorses it, 911 should block their number. And every gun dealer should never sell a gun to someone who wants to defund the police because what they are doing when purchasing a weapon is getting security for themselves — while denying it from you.”[…]Gutfeld noted that many liberals are against police until they need them, and pointed to former ESPN reporter Chris Palmer, who had tweeted “burn it all down” as a caption to an image of a blaze during violence in Minneapolis, but later expressed outrage when violence erupted near his California community.”See the shift? Everybody can talk about and wax romantic about the ‘movement’ and how we need ‘systemic change’, because it means nothing until they get to your door — and then it all goes out the window,” Gutfeld said.
Actor Dean Cain amplified the point about celebrity hypocrisy on Fox News Saturday:
“Of course, they’re hiring former officers as their security because that’s it. Because they want to be safe. ‘These rules apply to me, not to you.’ They can afford it and most of the people out there can’t,” he remarked.
Though the movement to defund the police is gaining traction on the far left in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, there appears to be disagreement on the issue even in the Congressional Black Caucus. Chairwoman Karen Bass (D-CA) has stopped short of a nationwide call to defund the police, though a package of “reform bills” related to police accountability are in the works and could be passed in the Democratic House later this month.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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