Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib said on Monday that the police shooting of a Minnesota man was murder and called for a complete end to policing.
Tlaib asserted that the police shooting of Minnesota man Daunte Wright “wasn’t an accident” and that “policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist.” Wright was shot and killed Sunday by a police officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota.
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.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 12, 2021
Tlaib also called the shooting “government funded murder” before saying that “policing, incarceration, and militarization … can’t be reformed.” However, Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the shooting as “an accidental discharge that resulted in the tragic death of Mr. Wright.” Body camera footage shows the police officer shouting “Taser!” multiple times before firing her service weapon.
Tlaib is a radical proponent of defunding the police. After former President Barack Obama suggested that the slogan was unhelpful, Tlaib claimed that “people who uplift [Rosa Parks’] courage, attack the movement for Black lives that want us to prioritize health, funding of schools & ending poverty, rather than racist police systems.” (RELATED: Rep. Tlaib Says She ‘Won’t Be Silent’ After Clash With Centrist Democrats, As Progressives Circulate Memo Calling Them All ‘Racist’)
Polling from the summer of 2020 showed that a majority of Americans did not support defunding the police, even as they expressed concerns about certain policing practices. Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger reportedly argued in the aftermath of the 2020 election that the “Defund The Police” slogan cost the party seats. “Defund police almost cost me my race because of an attack ad,” she reportedly said.