Minneapolis City Council pushes ahead with vow to ‘DISBAND’ police as veto-proof majority endorses proposal
The majority of members on Minneapolis City Council have announced that they are ready to commit themselves to getting rid of the city’s police department. The idea has become one of the rally cries of the ongoing protests.
Council President Lisa Bender broke the news during a rally in Minneapolis on Sunday, saying that nine of the body’s 13 members have so far got on board with the idea.
“This city council is going to dismantle this police department” -@jeremiah4north ❤️✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼 #ThePathForward#BlackLivesMatter#JusticeforGeorgesFloydpic.twitter.com/BLu5nhYPpI
— CTUL (@CTUL_TC) June 7, 2020
Speaking to CNN, Bender said that the council has yet to work out a plan for how exactly they want to uproot the police department, noting that “the idea of having no police department is certainly not in the short term.”
While Bender has provided scant details about the planned changes to the workings of law enforcement, she noted that funds earmarked for police would be funneled to cover other needs.
I’m all for disbanding police departments as they now exist but we need to remember a piece of history. When the US invaded Iraq we disbanded their army, and those former army forces created ISIS. The last thing we need is thousands of angry excops forming a militia of their own.
— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) June 7, 2020
The rally that was addressed by councilmen and women featured a giant “DEFUND POLICE” banner propped against the stage.
“This city council is going to dismantle this police department,” council member Jeremiah Ellison said from the stage, doubling down on an earlier pledge.
However, another council member Phillipe Cunningham appeared to pour cold water on the proposal, telling Los Angeles Times reporter Molly O'Toole that there has not been a vote scheduled for council members to formally weigh in on the idea.
Just spoke to @CunninghamMPLS just after bold announcement by 9/12 Minneapolis City Council - while no vote scheduled, & MPD “will not be abolished tomorrow” concrete talks ongoing over next steps, incl potential budget cuts, toward “transformative change”-update soon @latimes
— Molly O'Toole (@mollymotoole) June 7, 2020
Echoing Bender, he said that the Minneapolis Police Department “will not be abolished tomorrow,” adding that the overhaul might lead to “potential budget cuts.”
The announcement immediately drew praise from Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, herself a vocal proponent of disbanding the local police force, despite downplaying the controversial plan as “reimaging policing.”
I’m at the community meeting at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis, where City Council members just unveiled a mission statement for reimagining policing. ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/MhVlOpajpU
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 7, 2020
While the idea to either upend the police force entirely or drastically reduce its funding has been gaining traction on the back of the George Floyd protests, many have grown skeptical about the concept, sounding alarm that the proposal to replace them with a “community-led system” might lead to ultimate chaos that would hit the most vulnerable communities hardest.
Defund the police? When police reduced interactions with the public in Chicago after the announcement of an investigation it resulted in more than a thousand additional homicides...most of the victims were black. https://t.co/AbakzZWBJt
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) June 8, 2020
A veto-proof majority of the Minneapolis city council have just vowed to disband the police department.These people are nuts.If you live in Minneapolis, I suggest you move... immediately.
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) June 7, 2020
It’s time to #StopTheNonsense!The lunatics wanting to defund police are advocating for mass chaos, violence, and destruction of communities - particularly poor and minority communitiesDefund Democrat political campaigns instead!https://t.co/RWROlYsVFc
— Mark Gonsalves (@MarkCongressGA7) June 7, 2020
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