Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) believes policing, incarceration, and militarization “can’t be reformed” after the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a police officer in Minnesota on Sunday.
“It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression [and] violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder,” Tlaib tweeted on Monday.
She added, “No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.”
It wasn't an accident. Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist.
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) April 12, 2021
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.
Tlaib has previously voiced her support for defunding the police. In response to the killing of George Floyd by police in Minnesota in the summer of 2020, Tlaib threw her support behind the BREATHE Act.
The act says it would cut federal funding to local police and federal agencies. Instead, it would take that money and use it for social programs, health care, education, and environmental initiatives.
“We can start to envision through this bill a new version for public safety — a new vision for public safety, one that protects and affirms Black lives,” Tlaib said.
The police officer who shot Wright has been identified as Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter.
According to Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon, it appears the footage shows Potter went to fire her Taser but made an “accidental discharge” from her gun instead.
Protests broke out in response to Wright’s death for the second night in a row on Monday.
President Joe Biden urged demonstrators to protest peacefully while he spoke to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, as IJR reported.
“I think we’ve got to wait and see what the investigation shows. The entire investigation. You’ve all watched, I assume as I did, the … body cam, which is fairly graphic. The question is: Was it an accident, was it intentional? That remains to be determined by a full-blown investigation,” Biden said.
He added, “But in the meantime, I want to make it clear again: There is absolutely no justification, none, for looting. No justification for violence. Peaceful protest is understandable.”
