Politics

Kamala Harris’ Niece Calls For Defunding The Police

(Photo by Handout/DNCC via Getty Images)

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Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris called for defunding the police in a Thursday tweet following the release of body cam footage of an officer who fatally shot a 13-year-old.

“He was 13 years old. His hands were in the air. Defund the police,” Meena wrote, apparently referring to the released video showing the killing of Adam Toledo, 13, by a Chicago police officer on March 29.

“The offender still turned with a gun in his hand,” President of the Chicago Police Union John Catanzara said Thursday, defending the officer who shot the boy. “This occurred in eight-tenths of a second.”

“He would’ve been justified to shoot multiple times,” Catanzara said of the officer on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.”

The idea of “defunding the police” grew popular within the progressive movement in the wake of nationwide protests in June 2020. “What we are demanding, and what I demand, is that we abolish our law enforcement,” Black Lives Matter organizer Natasha Nelson said at the time. Additionally, a number of celebrities signed a petition calling for defunding police departments. (RELATED: Kamala Harris’ Niece Deletes Tweet That Assumed Boulder Mass Shooter Was A White Guy)

Former President Barack Obama, however, criticized the “snappy slogan” in an interview from December 2020, saying that it hurts activist efforts.

“I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘defund the police,’ but you lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done,” Obama said at the time.