A majority of Minneapolis City Council has pledged to dismantle the local police department amid George Floyd protests.
Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender, with eight council members in support, announced intentions to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.
“We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe,” she told CNN.
“We’re here because we hear you. We are here today because George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police. We are here because here in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States it is clear that our existing system of policing and public safety is not keeping our communities safe, Our efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.” She added.
Nine of the 13 councillors said a “new model of public safety” would be created in a city where law enforcement has been accused of racism.
This comes few hours after Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey was slammed by protesters after refusing to abolish the police department in the state.
The mayor arrived to the demonstration in plain clothes and a face mask to address dozens of protesters about the future of the Minneapolis Police Department.
However, Frey was at odds with activists fighting police brutality for refusing to abolish the police department.
In a statement to WCCO, Frey did not waver on his refusal to totally ‘abolish’ the Minneapolis Police Department.
If you’re asking whether I’m for massive structural reform to revise a structurally racist system the answer is ‘yes.’ If you’re asking whether I will do everything possible to push back on the inherent inequities that are literally built into the architecture the answer is ‘yes’”said Frey.
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He added: “If you’re asking whether I’m willing to do everything I possibly can throughout the rest of my term to make sure that the police union, the police contract, the arbitration system, and some of these policies that have resulted in problems for specifically Black and Brown people and murder over series of generations, I’m all for that.
“I’m not for abolishing the entire police department, I will be honest about that.”
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