Crowd Boos Minneapolis Mayor After He Refuses to Commit to Defunding Police
Written by SOURCE on June 7, 2020
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was booed by demonstrators this week after refusing to support the defunding of city police.
According to the Star Tribune, the incident took place during a Saturday rally near Frey’s home, where he addressed a large crowd of protesters demanding an end to police brutality and racial injustice. The mayor told the demonstrators he was well aware of the problems plaguing the Minneapolis Police Department and called for “structural reform.”
“I do have to take responsibility here. I’ve been coming to grips with my own brokenness in this situation, my own failures, my own shortcomings,” he said through a microphone. “And I know there needs to be deep-seated, structural reform in terms how the department operates. The systemic racist system needs to be revamped. The police union needs to be put in its place.”
One of the demonstrators then posed a yes-or-no question to Frey: “Will you commit to defunding the Minneapolis Police Department?” she asked. “We don’t want people with guns toting around in our community shooting us down. It is a yes or a no. Will you defund the Minneapolis Police Department?”
The woman then instructed the crowd to quiet down.
“It’s important we hear this, ’cause if y’all don’t know, he’s up for re-election next year. And if he says ‘no,’ guess what the fuck we’re going to do next year?” she added.
The mayor refused to make such a commitment.
“I do not support the full abolition at the police department,” he said, prompting demonstrators to boo and demand he leave immediately.
“Go home, Jacob!” protestors began to chant as Frey was seen leaving the scene.
Calls to defund police departments have increased over the last two weeks, following the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died at the hands of Minneapolis police. The city’s council members have since approved a temporary restraining order that would prohibit the city’s officers from using choke holds and deploying crowd control weapons without authorization. The order also requires all officers to intervene when they witness a colleague using excessive force.
Though they’ve yet to release an official proposal, some Minneapolis council members have vowed to disband the city’s police department and “replace it with a transformative new model of public safety.”
