Ilhan Omar blames 'dysfunctional' Minneapolis police for spike in violent crime claiming they have 'chosen not to fulfil their oath to provide public safety'
- Omar made the comments over the weekend at a Minneapolis town hall event
- The congresswoman laid the blame for rising crime at the feet of Minneapolis PD
- Yet in Dec 2020 the city council voted unanimously to cut its budget by $8m
- It comes three weeks before a vote on a proposal to disband the police department entirely and replace it with the Department of Public Safety
- Minneapolis PD has been under pressure since George Floyd's murder in 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) has blamed Minneapolis police officers for rising crime rates in the city because they are not 'providing the public safety they owe to the citizens they serve'.
Omar accused the Minneapolis police department of 'not fulfilling their oath of office' during a town hall event in the city this past weekend, and said that there is 'no accountability' for what the police are doing.
Her comments came just three weeks before the 2021 Minneapolis elections in which voters will tackle a controversial proposal to disband the city's police department and replace it with the Department of Public Safety.
Omar's speech was met with incredulity from many commentators who pointed out she had actively campaigned to dismantle the police department and cut its funding.
In December last year, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to slash around $8 million in direct police department funding in the wake of the 'defund the police' movement following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, 46, was killed in May 2020 when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed him down into the pavement for nine minutes with a shin on his neck.
The former police officer was found guilty of Floyd's murder earlier this year and was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison - the longest sentence ever handed out to a police officer for use of excessive force.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn) has blamed Minneapolis police officers for rising crime rates in the city because they are not 'providing the public safety they owe to the citizens they serve' (pictured: Omar in July 2021 in Washington DC)
In December last year the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to slash around $8 million in direct funding to the city's police department in the wake of the 'defund the police' movement (pictured: Minneapolis police officers dressed in riot gear, November 2020)
George Floyd (left) died on May 25, 2020, after Minneapolis Police officer, Derek Chauvin (right) knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. Chauvin was found guilty of murder in April
In a speech given at the town hall event in Minneapolis on Saturday, Omar ripped into the 'dysfunctional' Minneapolis police department and blamed them for the city's rising crime rates.
'What we must also recognize is that the reduction in policing currently in our city and the lawlessness that is happening is due to two things,' Omar said.
'One, the police have chosen to not fulfil their oath of office and to provide the public safety they are owed to the citizens they serve.
'The Minneapolis police department is the most dysfunctional police department in our state and probably in the country.'
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Minneapolis PD has been under pressure since George Floyd, 46, was killed when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed him down into the pavement for nine minutes with a shin on his neck (pictured: demonstrations in Minneapolis in April after Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd's murder)
The former police officer was found guilty of Floyd's murder earlier this year and was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison, but pressure for major police reform in the city remains high (pictured: city council member Alondra Cano speaks in Powderhorn park in Minneapolis, June 2020)
Omar's comments were generally met with incredulity on social media, with many users pointing out that her derision of the Minneapolis police department for their perceived underperformance came just months after she campaigned to slash the law enforcement budget.
Author and columnist Jonah Greenberg tweeted: 'Woman who wanted to dismantle the Minneapolis PD, now says crime is due to Minneapolis PD not doing enough police work'.
Another user, Zaid Jilani, said it was 'interesting' that the congresswoman was blaming the police 'for depolicing' and declared that the Minneapolis PD's ineffectiveness is the very result that the city's councillors had campaigned for.
Violent crime surged nearly 17 percent across Minnesota last year, including a record number of murders, according to data released in July by the Minnesota state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
'The police have chosen to not fulfil their oath of office and to provide the public safety they are owed to the citizens they serve,' said Omar at the weekend. 'The Minneapolis police department is the most dysfunctional police department in our state and probably in the country.'
Omar's comments were generally met with incredulity on social media, with many users pointing out her derision of the Minneapolis police department for their perceived underperformance came just months after she campaigned to slash the law enforcement budget
One user, Zaid Jilani, said it was 'interesting' that the congresswoman was blaming the police 'for depolicing' despite actively pushing to cut their budgets and impose restrictions on their ability to carry out police work
Omar's questionable comments come just weeks before the city of Minneapolis hosts a mayoral election on November 2 in which a number of questions for amendments to the city's charter will be tackled.
One question on the ballot addresses a proposal to completely disband the city's police department and replace it with the Department of Public Safety.
Should voters opt in favour of the proposal, the Minneapolis Police Department would be removed from the city charter and replaced with the Department of Public Safety.
The mayor of Minneapolis would then nominate a commissioner of the new department, which would introduce a 'comprehensive public health approach', but with no mandatory minimum of police and law enforcement staffing.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo (pictured 2020) faces the axe along with the whole police department if voters opt in favour of replacing the department with the Department of Public Safety next month
There has been widespread calls for police reform in Minneapolis since the death of George Floyd in May 2020 (Pictured: People gathered in downtown Minneapolis following the sentencing of Derek Chauvin to call for continual police reform, June 2021)
The debate around the need for police reform in the city has been raging ever since George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May last year.
Floyd died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes.
Video of the incident went viral, sparking protests against police brutality across the United States and beyond.
Chauvin was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department in the aftermath and was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in April.
On June 25, Chauvin received a sentence of 22 and a half years in prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment