Politics

Mayoral candidate Andrew Yang: NYC ‘cannot afford to defund the police’

Published

9 months ago

May 9, 2021

Staff Writer

Andrew Yang, who is running for mayor of New York City, said the city “cannot afford to defund the police” after a Saturday shooting in Times Square which injured 3, including a child.

“When I talk to New Yorkers I get a very different message every single day,” he said. “New Yorkers are concerned about rising rates of violent crime, petty crime, street homelessness. This is what we are seeing, and we need our city’s leaders to step up right now,” the New York Post reported.

Addressing the Times Square shooting with @KeithPowersNYC @WilliamAllenNYC @EdwinRaymondNYC – public safety is paramount. The police will be key to our recovery. We will establish a new anti-violence unit of specially trained plainclothes officers to reduce guns and gun violence. pic.twitter.com/CGtZrMJszx
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) May 9, 2021

Yang expressed the city’s need for the police.

“Nothing works in our city without public safety, and for public safety we need the police,” Yang said. “My message to the NYPD is this: New York needs you. Your city needs you. We need you to do your jobs professionally, responsibly, and justly.”

My number one priority as mayor will be keeping us and our families safe from harm every single day.
— Andrew Yang🧢⬆️🇺🇸 (@AndrewYang) May 9, 2021

He said he has the police’s backs and will support them in office.

“And as you do these things, the people of New York will have your backs. I will have your back. Defund the Police is wrong for New York City.”

Read the full report here.

Politics

GOP Senators Condemn Biden Plan to Defund and Deprive Police

Published

21 hours ago

January 22, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

On Friday afternoon, a group of Senate Republicans sent a letter to President Joe Biden condemning his administration’s “plan to defund, deprive police of critical lifesaving resources by executive fiat.”

The Senators, led by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley of Iowa, expressed extreme concern over Biden’s proposed executive order (EO) that limits law enforcement’s access to nonlethal and lifesaving resources.

“Dear Mr. President,” the letter begins:

According to recent news reports, the White House is working with the Department of Justice on an executive order (hereinafter, “EO”) that would impose various police reforms and criminal-justice reforms on federal law enforcement, and possibly on state and local law enforcement, without Congress passing police reform or criminal justice reform legislation.^[1] Specifically, according to screenshots^[2] of a draft of such EO, the Administration would unilaterally impose the following new policies on law enforcement: restrictions to the 1033 program, expanding pattern and practice authority, planned expansion of 18 U.S.C § 242 prosecutions, and conditioning state and local law enforcement grants…

…Police officers will face a grim reality if this EO is enacted and their lifesaving equipment is restricted from them. Violent crime will continue to skyrocket when police officers are unable to stop these crimes and save innocent lives. We cannot understand why any elected official would want to stop law enforcement from safely doing their jobs other than to be able to tell their base of voters they are defunding the police.

In addition to Grassley, the letter was signed by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Judiciary Committee members Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

The Senators say the restrictions “would come at a time when law enforcement needs our support more than ever.” Report after report shows homicides and violent crimes across the country are surging to record-breaking levels.

Amongst the most terrifying potential consequences is that the EO includes a section stating “the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall also use all tools at their disposal to promote adoption of the provisions of this executive order.”

The Senators point out in the letter that “this section is extremely concerning. It clearly lays out the groundwork for the Attorney General to strip power from the states and force them to comply with conditions on grants.”