Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was booed away from a protest when a woman with a microphone turned the crowd against him after he refused to say he would defund the local police department.
A video of the event posted by WCCO reporter David Schuman shows that before the protester with the microphone turned the crowd against the mayor, she tells him that he has a “yes or no question” to answer: “Will you commit to defunding the Minneapolis police department?”
It’s unclear if the mayor answers the question, as the protestor proceeds to lecture him about the community not wanting police — while the crowd cheers her on.
“Alright, be quiet, y’all. Be quiet, cause it’s important that we actually hear this. It’s important that we hear this because if y’all don’t know, he’s up for re-election next year,” said the protester, as the crowd cheers her on. “If ya’ll don’t know, he’s up for re-election next year, and if he says no, guess what the f*** we going to do next.”
The crowd again erupts into cheers, and a drum beating near the camera can be heard, before the woman shushes the crowd to hear his answer. While the mayor’s answer isn’t audible, it was nevertheless unsatisfactory to the protester, who then ushers him to “get the f*** out of here!”
Other members of the crowd begin to boo him, and then protesters erupted into a chant calling on the mayor to leave, repeating “Go home. Go home, Jacob, go home.” Members of the crowd make an opening for the mayor, who slowly begins to leave as a couple of protesters follow him, shouting.
In another video, posted by the labor advocacy organization CTUL, the crowd appears to stop shouting “go home,” in favor of repeatedly chanting “shame.”
Whoa. @MayorFrey is asked “Will you commit to defunding police, yes or no?” Speaker says his re-election hinges on the answer. Couldn’t hear answer but the crowd erupts in boos, chanting “GO HOME JACOB.”
Full video: pic.twitter.com/zODcbYGdeS
— David Schuman (@david_schuman) June 6, 2020
Mayor Frey @Jacob_Frey says he doesnt want to defund the police. So the crowd led by @BlackVisionsMN tell him to leave. pic.twitter.com/DaJHJXPwRm
— CTUL (@CTUL_TC) June 6, 2020
After he was booed, Frey told a local CBS News affiliate about his stance on police reforms: “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 against the inherent inequities that are literally built into the architecture: The answer is yes. 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 — specifically for black and brown people, and murder by the way — over a series of generations, I’m all for that.”
“I’m not for abolishing the entire police department, and I’ll be honest about that too,” said the mayor.
According to Fox News, members of the Minneapolis city council declared on Twitter earlier this week that they were going to “dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.” One of the city council members who tweeted this is Jeremiah Ellison, the son of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is prosecuting the case against the former police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.
Lisa Bender, the president of the Minneapolis City Council, has also called for the police to be dismantled and replaced with a “transformative new model of public safety.”
Yes. We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a transformative new model of public safety. https://t.co/FCfjoPy64k
— Lisa Bender (@lisabendermpls) June 4, 2020
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