“Defund the Police” Was About Punishing Police Departments
Funding for better social services could have come from literally anywhere. Tying it to police budgets was unnecessary, misguided…and personal.
“The defund police movement is dead in New York City,” New York Congressman Ritchie Torres told MSNBC’s Joe Diaz-Balart on Thursday.
“And good riddance,” Rep. Torres continued before delivering the coup de gras. “Any elected official who’s advocating for the abolition and/or even the defunding of police is out of touch with reality and should not be taken seriously.”
Torres was at the time agreeing with new NYC Mayor Eric Adams that cutting police budgets is not in the best interests of the city. Their voices join a growing clamor of moderate Democrats attempting to drown out chants to “Defund the Police” still emanating from the far left.
Even as crime has spiked wildly in cities, some of which took steps to defund their police departments before backtracking in recent months to refund them, some progressives Democrats have doubled-down.
Minnesota Democrat and progressive squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar was recently asked to respond during an interview on the Medhi Hassan show: “How do you feel when you see even self-proclaimed progressives in your party like NY Congressman Ritchie Torres saying that…