Top Democrats, including President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., kept members of the Squad at arm’s length after calls came from them to abolish the police following the fatal police shooting of Black man Daunte Wright, 20.
Squad member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., suggested Monday in a tweet that policing “can’t be reformed” but White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded Tuesday that is “not the president’s view.”
Speaker Pelosi pointed back to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which seeks to do exactly that: reform policing.
“As I painfully watched the trial of Derek Chauvin during Holy Week, I was grateful that the House had already passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” Pelosi said in a statement to Fox News. “This is all the more sad with the tragic killing of Daunte Wright this week.
“Our legislation provides a solution to systemic racism and does not paint all law enforcement with the same brush.
The Squad comprises Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.
Tlaib tweeted Monday:
“It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
Omar also tweeted Monday:
“We are sick and heartbroken. In the closing days of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, Brooklyn Center police killed 20 year old Daunte Wright, another Black man, during a traffic stop. This violence is a basic part of police interactions with communities of color. It must stop.”
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., also disagreed with the squad’s position, backing Speaker Pelosi’s call for reforms to policing.
“Look, we all know we have to root out systemic bias in law enforcement and we feel the best way to do that is the Justice in Policing Act,” Schumer said.
Source: Newmax
