Nine of the 13 members of the Minneapolis City Council said Sunday they supported disbanding the police department.
The council’s president and vice present were joined on stage at a rally Sunday by those in favor, KSTP-TV reported.
Together they make up a “supermajority,” which is essentially veto-proof, KSTP said.
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety,” City Council President Lisa Bender reiterated later on Twitter.
Thank you to the thousands of community members who have raised your voices to demand change. Thank you to @reclaimtheblock & @BlackVisionsMN for inviting us in. Today is a beginning. Minneapolis: we invite you to be part of building a system so our whole community is safe. https://t.co/fMaCw8HfyH
— Lisa Bender (@lisabendermpls) June 7, 2020
They said they would do so “through a budgetary process,” KSTP said.
The money would be channeled into other needs, Council President Lisa Bender told CNN. They will also discuss how to approaching policing in the city.
She also noted it would not happen overnight.
“The idea of having no police department is certainly not in the short term,” Bender told CNN.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was roundly booed on Saturday when he indicated he did not support disbanding the police department.
“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,’ ” he said. “I’m not for abolishing the entire police department. I will be honest about that.”
“I do not support the full abolition of the police,” Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis said when he was put on the spot at a rally on Saturday. With that, protesters yelled “Go home, Jacob, go home!” and “Shame! Shame!” https://t.co/573TsGf4fW pic.twitter.com/NJF4hTErYm
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 7, 2020
The push comes in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis resident who died May 25 after a now-fired police officer kept his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Nearly two weeks later, tens of thousands of people are protesting police brutality and racism around the world, and urging an end to racial disparity.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, has been fired and faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The three officers who stood by and did not intervene are also in custody, charged with aiding and abetting.
Floyd is scheduled to be buried in Houston on Tuesday after a public viewing on Monday.
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