Politics

Abrams Says She Backs The Blue Two Years After Calling To ‘Reallocate Resources’ From Police

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Democratic Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams has recently claimed support for law enforcement, after previously backing some level of police defunding.

Abrams spokesperson Michael Holloman told Fox News in August that she “does not and never has supported defunding the police,” and she claimed longtime support for law enforcement during her Monday gubernatorial debate against Gov. Brian Kemp. However, in a June 2020 appearance on CNN’s New Day, Alisyn Camerota questioned if Abrams agreed with “some defunding,” and she responded, “We have to reallocate resources, so yes.”

“If there’s a moment where the resources are so tight that we have to choose between whether we murder black people or serve black people, then absolutely our choice must be service,” Abrams continued. “But I actually think it’s creating a false choice and a false narrative that’s playing into the hands of Donald Trump and the Republicans and sometimes into a media narrative that seeks to make overly simplistic decisions.”

Kemp asked Abrams Monday how many sheriffs had publicly endorsed her campaign, with Abrams responding that she supports law enforcement and had for 11 years, working with the Sheriffs’ Association. She expressed belief in requiring both “safety and justice,” referencing one of her brothers’ criminal history and another “who has faced being pulled over for driving while black.”

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In June, Abrams did not provide a “yes” or “no” answer to Fox News Sunday anchor Martha McCallum’s question about whether defunding the police had been a “mistake.”

“The intention that we had in 2020 was to call attention to the harm that was being done to black people by the police,” Abrams stated in part. “I want us to have the best law enforcement possible to protect our communities, but they also have to be held accountable.”

Abrams previously served as co-chair of the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund, which has funded activists supportive of defunding or abolishing police, Fox News reported. She is on the board of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, an organization that included “#DefundthePolice” and “#AbolishThePolice” in tweets earlier this year and has contributed money to the pro-abolition Movement for Black Lives coalition.

“The Post collected data on nearly 40,000 payments at 25 of the nation’s largest police and sheriff’s departments within the past decade, documenting more than $3.2 billion spent to settle claims [of wrongdoing].” #DefundthePolice https://t.co/fm1UMmcbm3

— Marguerite Casey Foundation (@CaseyGrants) March 11, 2022

Abrams’ campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.