Ilhan Omar and her new movement to defund the police across the country suffered a historic and quite embarrassing defeat yesterday. The proposal to disband the police the left went all-in and wanted to take to the public for a vote was just blocked from the ballot.
Ouch. Cooler heads did indeed prevail as we all knew they would but while Omar probably made out quite well fundraising off the controversy the damage she did to Biden’s campaign is immeasurable.
Biden is doing everything he can to distance himself from the hysterical ideas from the left and Omar does not make it easy for Joe. To add to Omar’s historic defeat, because they blocked it and delayed the proposal it will not appear on this year’s ballot and the left will have to wait until 2021 to try to get it done.
“There is no democracy denied here. There is no denial of democratic rights. It’s a question of when, not if,” Commissioner Gregory Abbott said. “We can fix this. We can get police reform. We just need to find a different avenue to do it in.”
From The New York Post:
A Minneapolis commission decided Wednesday to take more time to review a City Council amendment to dismantle the Police Department in the wake of George Floyd’s death, ending the possibility of voters deciding the issue in November.
Members of the Charter Commission expressed concern that the process to change the city’s charter was being rushed after Floyd died following an encounter with police. While several commissioners said changing the Police Department was necessary, they said the amendment before them was flawed.
Several said it faced legal barriers, was created without input from key community members who oppose it, and that it gave too much power to the City Council.
“It’s appropriate to explore transformational changes in the department, but it needs to be done thoughtfully,” said Commissioner Peter Ginder, who voted in favor of taking more time. “That hasn’t been done here.”
The five City Council members who authored the proposed charter amendment released a statement criticizing the decision, but said they will continue to work toward transforming the way the city provides public safety.
They said they plan to put an amendment before voters in November 2021.
“It is not our legacy to use bureaucratic processes to circumvent the people in an attempt to ‘protect’ voters from themselves,” said Council Member Jeremiah Ellison.
“That is not democracy. In a democracy, the people decide. But I guess today the Charter Commission decided otherwise.”
The proposed amendment followed widespread criticism of law enforcement over Floyd’s death. It would have replaced the Police Department with a “Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention” that backers said would take a more “holistic” approach, which wasn’t fully defined.
The proposal did allow for armed officers — creating a division of licensed peace officers, who would have answered to the new department’s director.
A state commission decided to kill the proposal that would allow city residents to vote in November on an initiative to "defund" the Minneapolis Police https://t.co/tB1KqMumco
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 5, 2020
