GOP LAWMAKER FALSELY CLAIMS DEMOCRATS WANT TO “DEFUND THE POLICE”

 

…This was displayed by some “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations on Juneteenth, 2020.

 

Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) falsely said this is why the Democrats walked away from the negotiations

 

The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police said in a joint statement that they were: “disappointed that Senate negotiators could not reach agreement on police reform legislation” and remain “committed to enacting carefully balanced and thoughtful legislation” on the topic.

These two are the country’s largest groups representing police officers.  They said that “defunding the police” was not proposed in the policing reform negotiations that fell apart in Congress last week, in an apparent pushback against the lead Republican negotiator’s false claim.

“Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose ‘defunding the police, In fact, the legislation specifically provided additional funding to assist law enforcement agencies in training, agency accreditation, and data collection initiatives. It is our joint belief that the provisions under discussion would have strengthened the law enforcement profession and helped improve the state of community police engagement without compromising management and officers’ rights, authorities, and legal protections.”

Democrats last week ended months of negotiations that began after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, and subsequent nationwide protests.  Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA), the party’s lead negotiators, said they had compromised repeatedly, but Republicans still sought more concessions.  The Democrats had to walk away when the GOP lawmakers continued to want even more concessions from the Dems.

The Democrats’ final offer did omit any changes to the legal doctrine of qualified immunity, or Section 242 of the Civil Rights Act, that would have caused officers to face expanded civil or criminal accountability.  This concession would have taken a major sticking point for Republicans off the table completely, but they stuck with their false statement against the Democrats.

After the talks fell apart without a deal, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Republican negotiator, blamed Democrats, claiming that their push to “defund” law enforcement made it impossible to agree on legislation. President Biden, Democratic congressional leaders, and Bass and Booker have rejected any idea of slashing any police departments’ budgets.

Scott’s office did not immediately respond to the statement by the police groups.

Republicans and Democrats had been eager to finalize bipartisan legislation last year after a national outcry over the killings of Floyd in Minneapolis, of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia focused national attention on law enforcement’s deteriorating relationship with Black communities and the broader issue of racism in the United States

But interest in the issue waned among Republicans after President Donald Trump ran for re-election on his “law-and-order” platform that focused on White voters, while congressional Republicans continued to portray Democrats as being soft on crime and eager to gut police departments, which is all false.

In a tweet, Scott urged Democrats to “come back to the negotiating table.” His office also pointed to a Wall Street Journal editorial arguing that policing reform failed because Democrats “sought to nationalize policing standards, dropping new burdens on local departments but denying the resources to make it work.”

“The biggest fight was over funding,” the editorial states. “Mr. Booker says Democrats don’t support defunding police, which progressive mayors and activists demanded after nationwide protests in 2020. Yet their proposal to restrict existing federal grants would risk a reduction in police resources.”

What the article doesn’t say is that the Democrats only had to walk away when the Republicans kept trying to hang the false, “Defunding the Police” tag on the Democrats.

Senator Booker and Rep. Bass, both totally dismiss any idea that they ever said anything about defunding any police department.

Just more misinformation from Trump’s Republican Party.

Copyright G. Ater 2021