AOC and Mamdani wanted to defund the police. Their backtracking puts organizers at risk
Progressive and democratic socialist politicians are recanting pandemic-era statements on police and prison abolition The north may not remember, but 9 August this year marked the 12th anniversary of the police killing of Michael Brown Jr in Ferguson, Missouri. That day, the US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reassured an ABC news anchor that she, like other progressive politicians and…
On August 9th, 2021, 12 years since the police killing of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson, Missouri, several progressive politicians have been found to have recanted their pandemic-era statements on defunding the police and prison abolition. The former U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) was one of them. While addressing an ABC news anchor, she had reassured the public that she had since moved away from her previous stances on these issues, particularly during the Covid-19 lockdown.
However, upon further questioning, AOC explained that her stance was influenced by a local city councilman who famously said, "Woke 1 was crazy" during the pandemic. She went on to say that the discussions surrounding crime at that time were fruitful and that the current rhetoric on crime was fundamentally different from what she had previously advocated. AOC expressed gratitude that candidates have the opportunity to present their current views to the electorate.
This backtracking has put organizers working towards police and prison abolition at risk, as their efforts may be seen as inconsistent with the current views of these politicians.
Written by urgent.news from The Guardian US's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
