Pramila Jayapal is fantastic. Would love to see her in the Senate someday.

[Celerity]

33. That article issued a correction. Why did you use Reddit to filter instead of directly linking

to the article?

I think because the Reddit tweet had an incorrect headline (the actual article does not have it) and that is the only thing you could find that linked her to the phrase defund the police, a phrase she didn't use and doesn't use. Yep.


https://www.kuow.org/stories/jayapal-supports-diverting-police-money-to-other-public-uses

*A previous version of this article stated that Rep. Jayapal favored defunding the police. According to a follow up with her office, she does not favor defunding police, rather, diverting money away from police departments and using that money to invest in needed public programs. Her office argues that "defunding the police and shifting some resources to things we need to be investing in are two very different things."

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Also, she helped introduce the George Floyd policing bill.

Keep up the fight: Help pass the Justice In Policing Act

By Pramila Jayapal
Special to The Times

https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/keep-up-the-fight-help-pass-the-justice-in-policing-act/?amp=1

In the weeks following the killing of George Floyd, communities across Washington and throughout the country have stood up and powerfully spoken out — protesting, demanding accountability and fighting for justice. Thousands upon thousands have marched day after day not only to honor the lives of Rayshard Brooks, Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Manuel Ellis, Tony McDade, Charleena Lyles and so many others, but also to fight against police brutality, racism, anti-Blackness and white supremacy.

From the health-care workers making their voices heard outside Seattle City Hall to those who had tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and flash bangs unacceptably unleashed on them at Cal Anderson Park and outside the East Police Precinct, Seattleites have not just forced a necessary conversation but prompted necessary action. Early on, I joined many fellow Washingtonians in calling for the end to the use of curfews, National Guard troops and militarized law enforcement. Rather than this unnecessary show of force, I have insisted that we respond differently, focusing instead on concrete policies that take on institutionalized racism and anti-Blackness.

Last week, I led 10 elected officials of color who represent Seattle at the federal, state, county and city levels in urging Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best to immediately enact transformative changes. That includes ending law enforcement’s violent response to ongoing demonstrations, completely overhauling policing to create an entirely different model of public safety that protects all in our community, and implementing serious accountability and transparency measures into police contracts. But while transforming policing in Seattle is critical, it is not only our community or our police department that requires urgent reform. We need to re-imagine and rebuild law enforcement across the country in order to finally put an end to police brutality, militarization and anti-Blackness. We need accountability, we need oversight, we need transparency — and we need to ensure real justice.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee — and with the leadership of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights coalitions like the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights — I was proud to help introduce the Justice in Policing Act last week. This legislation puts forth the most aggressive intervention into policing by Congress in recent memory, and reflects long overdue changes to the way law enforcement is done across the United States. Many of the reforms we have proposed are widely supported across the ideological spectrum.

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