James Woods: “Notoriously liberal West Hollywood had the brilliant idea of replacing police officers with unarmed ‘safety ambassadors.’ Let’s take a peek at how that’s worked out during an assault in progress…”
https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1651957227375431680
San Francisco supervisor Hillary Ronen begs for more police in her district after voting to defund in 2020
https://www.yahoo.com/news/san-francisco-supervisor-hillary-ronen-211803798.html
San Francisco supervisor Hillary Ronen begs for more police in her district after voting to defund in 2020
By Andrea Vacchiano
March 19, 2023
A San Francisco district supervisor is calling for more policing in the crime-ridden city – despite advocating to defund the police in 2020.
Hillary Ronen, Democrat, represents District 9 on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. During a Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting on Wednesday, she made an impassioned plea to add more officers to the Mission District, which she represents.
Ronen was attacking San Francisco’s police chief for spending a large amount of overtime on an anti-retail theft program instead of prioritizing police presence in her district.
“I’ve been begging this department to give the Mission what it deserves in terms of police presence all year long,” Ronen said. “And I have been told time and time and time and time again there are no officers that we can send to Mission.”
“It hurts. And I feel betrayed by the department. I feel betrayed by the mayor. I feel betrayed by the priorities of the city,” the Democratic politician added.
The speech contradicts her stance on policing in 2020. After the George Floyd protests, Ronen tweeted that she believed “strongly” that San Francisco’s police force needed to be reduced.
“I want to make it clear that I believe strongly in defunding the police and reducing the number of officers on our force,” Ronen wrote. “For decades we’ve had an imbalance in our city’s budget, with hundreds of millions of dollars going to SFPD to have them do work they are not qualified to do.”
In 2020, Mayor London Breed redirected $120 million from law enforcement to fund other city initiatives. Crime in San Francisco continued to worsen, with homicides increasing by 20% in 2020 compared to 2019. Homicides also increased 17% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
By December 2021, Breed made an emergency request to the Board of Supervisors to add more funds to the city’s police department.
The San Francisco Police Department has struggled with lack of staffing the past few years. In February, officers responded to a burglary over 15 hours after the 911 call was made.
“While the SFPD is short-staffed and our response times have been negatively impacted as a result, a response time of over 12 hours for a call of this nature falls far short of the department’s and the public’s expectations,” Officer Robert Rueca said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Ronen’s office for comment, but has not heard back.
Democratic lawmaker with ties to ‘defund the police’ movement calls for crackdown on crime following assault
Democratic lawmaker with ties to ‘defund the police’ movement calls for crackdown on crime following assault
Noting DC let the repeat offender off with light sentences, Rep. Craig asked, ‘what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?’
By Jeffrey Clark
February 15, 2023
Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig, who was allegedly assaulted in the elevator of her Washington, D.C. residence by a 26-year-old man named Kendrid Hamlin, has been tied to the “defund the police” movement.
One of Craig’s top staffers, Liz Young, has spoken out against the police and even called for property destruction on her Twitter account, according to a Washington Free Beacon report from last year.
In 2020, Young responded to news about deaths related to police in New York with four words: “Burn. It. All. Down.”
Young also claimed in June 2020 that cities should “fund counselors, not cops,” and has also promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a far-left group that supports the defunding of the police.
But since then, Young’s boss, who has herself attended fundraisers of groups tied to the defund the police movement, according to the Free Beacon, has made repeated calls for a stronger law enforcement policy.
The change came soon after Craig said she was assaulted in an elevator in her Washington, D.C. apartment complex.
“I got attacked by someone who the District of Columbia has not prosecuted fully over the course of almost a decade, over the course of 12 assaults before mine that morning,” Craig told CBS News.
“And so I think we have to think about how in the world we can make sure that we’re not just letting criminals out,” she added.
Craig emphasized that repeat offenders are not always deterred by short sentences and punishments.
“I mean, it wasn’t even in every instance that he got 10 days or 30 days. Many times, the charges were completely dropped before any justice was achieved at all,” she said.
“If you throw somebody in jail for 10 days and think, ‘There’s your punishment, and we’re gonna let you right back on the street,’ what the hell do you think’s gonna happen?” Craig asked.
The Democratic congresswoman argued that there must be a way to prevent criminals from “getting back out” and getting away with the same crimes.
“We have to get these repeat offenders off the streets,” she said.
“We also have got to figure out how we get people the mental health and addiction help that they need because these people are getting back out and just recommitting the same crimes over and over and over again.”
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Thornton released a violent serial criminal, and asked him not to commit any more crimes. Anyone who’s not an idiot can guess what happened next.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
August 21, 2022
Seattle is in King County, Washington. Pierce County is part of the Seattle metropolitan area.
The Seattle metropolitan area is pro-crime.
Aaron Fulk is a 48-year-old violent serial criminal who lives in the Seattle metropolitan area.
Fulk was recently arrested for threatening a security guard who was working at a transit stop. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Thornton released Fulk without bail, and asked him not to commit any more crimes.
Eight days later, Fulk used a metal pole to fatally beat a 66-year-old disabled many to death.
Settle’s city council had recently voted to defund the police.
The Seattle metropolitan area is pro-crime.
‘Squad’ members spend close to $100,000 of campaign donations to fund private police forces
‘Squad’ members spend close to $100,000 of campaign donations to fund private police forces
By Luke Gentile
October 19, 2021
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , a New York Democrat, and the other members of her progressive “Squad” spent close to $100,000 on private security in the third quarter while championing the defund the police movement, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The campaign for Ocasio-Cortez paid nearly $10,000 for a private police force to keep the representative safe, while Rep. Ayanna Pressley , a Massachusetts Democrat, racked up a private security bill totaling nearly $4,000, records indicate.
Both Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley have championed a diminished and “reimagined” police state, with the latter suggesting she is “ready to continue the systemic work necessary to radically reimagine a system of public safety in our country that finally censures the dignity and humanity of all,” according to a Fox report.
Still, the bills collected by Ocasio-Cortez and Pressley appear modest to those of Reps. Ilhan Omar , a Minnesota Democrat, and Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, according to the records.
Omar’s own private security cost $22,000, while the protection needed for Bush carried a price tag of almost $65,000, according to the report.
Omar has called the police in her district “rotten to the root” and stated that “the current infrastructure that exists as policing in our city should not exist anymore, and we can’t go about creating a different process with the same infrastructure in place.”
The money that went toward the private security forces for the Squad members was paid out of their campaigns, the report said.
This means it is possible that donations that were sent to aid calls for defunding the police were, in reality, spent to rent out private police.
Cori Bush Defends Use of Private Security While Calling to Defund the Police: ‘Suck It Up’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cori-bush-defends-private-security-141503464.html
Cori Bush Defends Use of Private Security While Calling to Defund the Police: ‘Suck It Up’
By Caroline Downey
August 5, 2021
During an interview with CBS News Wednesday, progressive Representative Cori Bush insisted that she needs private security to protect herself from threats while advocating for the “defund the police” movement.
“I’m going to make sure I have security because I know I have had attempts on my life. And I have too much work to do, there are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that. So if I end up spending $200,000, if I spend ten more dollars on it, you know what, I get to be here to do the work, so suck it up. And defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets,” she said.
https://twitter.com/MikeKBerg/status/1423257378993147907
Bush’s passionate defense of the defund the police movement comes after she disclosed to the Federal Elections Commission that she spent nearly $70,000 over the last three months on a personal security detail. Republican lawmakers, such as Representative Trey Gowdy, slammed her for her ‘hypocrisy,’ pointing out that her policy prescription would deny protection to average Americans who can’t afford private security.
Bush, a member of the progressive “squad,” has long pushed for drastic budget cuts for local police departments, which she accuses of upholding “white supremacy.” She suggested Wednesday that funding should be redirected to social welfare programs.
Major cities that cut their police budgets following mass demonstrations against police bruality have experienced a surge in crime in recent months. As these metropolitan areas become more prone to lawlessness, the popularity of the Defund the Police movement has declined.
For example, in San Francisco roughly 76 percent of citizens surveyed said they want a greater police presence in high-crime neighborhoods. Similarly, a May poll found that the majority of Portland residents reject Defund the Police and most support an increase in police officers.
Portland, which has had 53 homicides so far this year, recently resurrected a special police division dedicated to combatting violent crime after it was disbanded in the wake of social justice protests triggered by George Floyd’s death. After a year of negative treatment and politically-driven retaliation targeting law enforcement, however, the revamped Portland team is struggling to find recruits willing to apply for the role, officers told the Wall Street Journal.
Portland, Oregon, is waging war against people of color by defunding the police and allowing violent criminals to commit more murders: “37 people had died in Portland homicides this year, a more-than-sevenfold increase compared with the first five months of last year… the victims have disproportionately been people of color”
In the year 2020, Portland, Oregon reduced its police budget by $15 million, and eliminated 84 positions in its police department.
On May 31, 2021, the Seattle Times reported:
“As of Sunday morning, 37 people had died in Portland homicides this year, a more-than-sevenfold increase compared with the first five months of last year, and a stark contrast to Seattle, a larger city, where 11 homicides had been recorded as of late May. So far this year, the victims have disproportionately been people of color.”
So the number of murders has had a “more-than-sevenfold increase” compared to the same time last year, and “the victims have disproportionately been people of color.”
In other words, the white progressives and leftists who control the government of Portland, Oregon, are waging war against people of color by defunding the police, and allowing violent criminals to commit more murders.
Clearly, the white progressives and leftists in Portland do not believe that black lives matter.
‘The Squad’ Pushes To ‘Defund The Police’ While Spending Thousands On Private Security To Protect Themselves
‘The Squad’ Pushes To ‘Defund The Police’ While Spending Thousands On Private Security To Protect Themselves
By Henry Rodgers
April 19, 2021
Members of the progressive-Democrat group in Congress called “the Squad” who have been pushing to defund the police, spent thousands of dollars on private security for themselves, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records reviewed by the Daily Caller.
Democrats New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush each spent thousands of dollars on their own security. The payments were described in the FEC filings as either “security” or “security services.”
In Jan. 2020, Ocasio-Cortez criticized New York City’s proposed $1 billion cuts from the police department budget, saying it did not go far enough. (RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez Defends Defund Police Movement Despite Pushback From Democrats)
“Defunding police means defunding police,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools.”
During a June 2020 Instagram live, Ocasio-Cortez said America would look like a suburb if the police lost funding across the country.
“Affluent white communities already live in a world where they choose to fund youth, health, housing etc more than they fund police,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
In January, February, and March of 2021, Ocasio-Cortez spent $3,000 per month on a security consultant based out of Brooklyn, New York. Records show she spent a total of $9,000 for 3 months of security consulting from this one company.
On Jan. 25, 2021, Ocasio-Cortez spent $24,279.13 on “security.”
On Jan. 19, 2021, she spent $3,986.60 on “security services.”
On Feb. 2., Ocasio-Cortez spent $849.22 on “security services.”
On Feb. 25, Ocasio-Cortez spent $1552.50 at 24 & 7 Security & Investigation, Inc., which her office said was for a “security detail in Houston.”
Omar, who also supports defunding the police, spent $3,103.61 on her own security in her state of Minnesota, according to her April Quarterly 2021 financial report:
On Jan. 20, 2021, Omar spent $66.97 on “Security Services.”
On Jan. 29, 2021, Ilhan Omar spent $202.70 on Security “Services.”
On Feb. 19, 2021, Ilhan Omar spent $66.97 on “Security Services.”
On Feb. 26, 2021, Omar spent $2,700 on “Security Services.”
On March 16, 2021, Ilhan Omar spent $66.97 on “Security Services.”
In a June 2020 appearance on CNN, when Omar was asked about defunding the police she said the system could not be reformed.
“You can’t really reform a department that is rotten to the root. What you can do is rebuild,” Omar said. “No one is saying crimes will not be investigated.”
“What we are saying is the current infrastructure that exists as policing in our city should not exist anymore, and we can’t go about creating a different process with the same infrastructure in place,” she said.
Pressley, another avid supporter of defunding the police, spent $4,186.75 on “Security Services,” according to her April Quarterly 2021 financial report:
On Jan. 26, 2021, Pressley spent $1,292.00 while in her home state.
On Jan. 27, 2021, Pressley spent $1,267.50 for security in Alexandria, Virginia.
On March 4, 2021, Pressley spent $675.25 in ADT security, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida.
On March 9, 2021, Pressley spent $252.00 while in her home state.
On March 19, 2021, Pressley spent $700.00 for a security company in Washington D.C. called LGC Security LLC.
In a June 2020 interview with TIME, Pressley said she supports efforts to defund police departments, saying it is “about the investment in our communities which have historically been divested from.”
Cori Bush, a freshman Democrat who has pushed to defund the police, spent over $30,000 on her own security, according to her April Quarterly 2021 financial report.
On Jan. 18, 2021, Bush spent $1,060.00 on security from Whole Armor Executive Protection in Bowie, Maryland.
On Jan. 21, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Nathaniel Davis, Jr in her home state.
On Jan. 25, 2021, Bush spent $530.00 on security from Nathaniel Davis in Palo Alto, Calif.
On Feb. 17, 2021, Bush spent $7,743.75 on security from RS&T Security Counseling LLC in New York City.
On Feb. 25, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Sandler, Reiff, Lamb, Rosenstein & Birk in Washington DC.
On Feb. 26, 2021, Bush spent $5,812.00 on security from RS&T Security Counseling, LLC in NYC.
On March 15, 2021, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Nathaniel Davis Davis, in Saint Louis, Missouri.
On March 15, 2021, Bush spent $2,456.25 on security from RS&T Security Consulting LLC in NYC.
Bush sent out a tweet in Dec. 2020, that criticized former President Barrack Obama for not calling to defund the police.
“With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence. It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police,” Bush said in a tweet.
The Daily Caller contacted the offices of Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley, and Bush about the amount of money spent on security, to which they did not immediately respond. Daily Caller reached out to many of the security companies and learned that they indeed provide armed security, but couldn’t comment on the nature of security provided to the congresswomen.
AOC, ‘Squad’ members promote ‘Defund the Police’ but spend thousands on private security
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-defund-police-squad-private-security
AOC, ‘Squad’ members promote ‘Defund the Police’ but spend thousands on private security
Bush has spent the most on security services so far this year
April 20, 2021
Bush has spent the most on security services so far this year
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and other members of the progressive “Squad” spent thousands of dollars on private security despite calling on cities to defund police departments, Federal Election Commission filings show.
The group of progressive, Democratic congresswomen including Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan have voiced their support for measures to reduce police spending and allocate those funds toward other community services in an effort to curb police violence.
Tlaib’s filings do not show any security-related spending, though the other four congresswomen have spent tens of thousands of dollars on different private security services.
Ocasio-Cortez
“Defunding police means defunding police,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a June 30 statement — about a month after George Floyd’s death. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools.”
The statement came in response to New York City’s proposed $1 billion police department budget cut, which the city aimed to use for education, social services and summer youth programming instead.
Just last week, Ocasio-Cortez said the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright happened not as an accident but because of “an indefensible system that grants impunity for state violence, rewards it [with] endlessly growing budgets at the cost of community investment, [and] targets those who question that order.”
Meanwhile, however, Ocasio-Cortez has paid $3,000 per month on a New York-based “security consultant” service since December, 2020, though she was spending $5,000 per month on the same security consultant beginning May 5, 2020, as The Daily Caller first reported.
Since the start of 2021, she has spent more than $25,000 on “security” costs dated Jan. 25; more than $1,500 on security detail for a February trip to Houston after a shocking winter storm devastated the area; nearly $4,000 on “security services” dated Jan. 19; and nearly $850 on “security services” dated Feb. 2.
The congresswoman did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.
Ayanna Pressley
Pressley and Tlaib in July introduced the BREATHE Act to defund police departments, establish a reparations program for African Americans and people harmed by the police and the criminal justice system and eliminate federal programs and agencies used to finance Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Massachusetts congresswoman said in a July video posted to Facebook Live announcing the legislation that she stands “ready to continue the systemic work necessary to radically reimagine a system of public safety in our country that finally censures the dignity and humanity of all.”
n a June tweet, Pressley said “the defund movement isn’t new” but that “folks are just finally listening.”
Pressley’s own safety system, however, cost nearly $4,200 in 2021, FEC filings show.
The congresswoman spent nearly $2,300 and about $250 on security services from Massachusetts-based firms in January and March; about $1,260 on security services from a Virginia-based firm in January; $675 on ADT security services in March; and $700 on security services from a Washington, D.C.-based firm in March.
She did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.
Ilhan Omar
Omar’s state and district have been rocked by both violent and peaceful protests in the year following the fatal, officer-involved shooting of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as the more recent officer-involved shooting death of Daunte Wright in a Minneapolis suburb.
Omar in June said on CNN’s “State of the Union” said Minneapolis has to “rebuild” its police department, which described as “rotten to the root” and impossible to reform.
“What we are saying is the current infrastructure that exists as policing in our city should not exist anymore, and we can’t go about creating a different process with the same infrastructure in place,” she said at the time.
In November, the congresswoman appeared to defend the Minneapolis City Council’s proposal to transfer $8 million from the city’s police department to other community services.
“Don’t fall for the fear-driven narratives,” Omar tweeted at the time. “We can craft a justice system that prioritizes people’s basic needs like mental health [and] violence prevention, [and] allow the city to put public safety first.”
The Minnesota lawmaker, however, has spent upwards of $3,100 on security-related services so far in 2021. That includes a monthly payment of about $67 to a Minneapolis-based firm — as well as an additional $200 to the same firm on Jan. 29 — and $2,700 on “security services” from a different Minneapolis firm.
Omar did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.
Cori Bush
Bush, the newest member of the “Squad,” has previously taken issue with both police and Defense Department spending.
“Defunding the police isn’t radical, it’s real,” she tweeted in January.
On April 12, she noted that Minnesota invested $12 million in police training after “Philando Castile was murdered by police at a traffic stop in 2016.
“Where was that training when they killed Daunte Wright just 10 miles from where Derek Chauvin sits on trial for murdering George Floyd?” she tweeted. Two days later, she called on lawmakers to “remove police from traffic enforcement.”
But Bush has spent the most on security services so far this year compared to her other progressive colleagues. In 2021 alone, Bush spent more than $30,000 on “security services” from different companies.
Bush has spent $5,000 per month on services from a security consulting company based in California; more than $1,500 total on security from another Maryland-based firm in January; $5,000 on security from a Missouri-based firm in January; more than $7,700 on security from a New York-based firm in February; and more than $8,200 on services from a New-York based security company.
Bush did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News.
Calls to “defund” police departments or reduce state and citywide police budgets became popularized after Floyd’s death nearly a year ago, and the slogan has become commonplace among protesters, political pundits and progressive lawmakers on both the local and federal levels.
Other more moderate Democrats have pushed back against the phrase as an idea that could be damaging to the party.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 