Meanwhile, New York mayor Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday pledged to cut the city’s police funding, following days of protests.
Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council pledged on Sunday to defund and dismantle the city’s police department following the death of George Floyd, vowing to create a new system of public safety, CNN reported. Nine votes is a veto-proof majority in the 13-member council.
“We committed to dismantling policing as we know it in the city of Minneapolis and to rebuild with our community a new model of public safety that actually keeps our community safe,” Council President Lisa Bender told the channel.
The council members stood before hundreds of people gathered late in the day and promised to begin the process of taking apart the police department as it now exists. The city’s law enforcement has been long accused of racism.
The pledge in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died 13 days ago after being pinned to the ground by a white police officer’s knee, reflected calls across the United States urging lawmakers to push for greater police accountability. Protesters have taken to the streets with demands to shrink or abolish police departments, and “defund the police” has become a frequent rallying cry.
Meanwhile, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Sunday pledged for the first time to cut the city’s police funding, following ten days of widespread protests against police brutality, The New York Times reported.
