Thread by @crabcrawler1

I feel compelled to make a proper thread about Democrats supporting Defunding the Police, and this 180 degree U-Turn to try and memory hole it. archive.is/2kPs4

AS A REMINDER: here's Joe Biden on video saying "yeah I support taking money away from police departments."

So STOP with the smoke and mirrors.

Yeah and Kamala Harris is on record about it too.

So really the thread COULD stop here because the most immediate point has been made. Honestly.

(But we're gonna explore. I'll just take my time today and pace myself about it.)

Let's start with the most direct. Defunding police departments (or the threat of) across the USA is NOT some nebulous myth.

It happened already, and is still currently happening.

BOTH New York City Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo saw to that. Pretty much immediately.

Defunding police happening in:
-- San Francisco ("redirect") huffpost.com/entry/san-fran…
-- Oakland ("reallocation") nbcbayarea.com/news/local/eas…

HINT: the dispute is a semantics/wording game.

Of course police defunding happened in Minneapolis. The police budget cuts were approved by officials there late last year.
npr.org/2020/12/10/944…
nytimes.com/2020/12/10/us/…
cbsnews.com/news/minneapol…
abcnews.go.com/US/minneapolis…

^^ With these examples I'm pointing out already (this thread still has a long ways to go, though, of course....)

it makes recent statements made by Democrats like Sen. Mazie Hirono EXTREMELY DISHONEST.

she should stop misleading the American people.

August 2020: Austin, Texas. Budget cuts/defunding of $150 million to police department made waves. texastribune.org/2020/08/13/aus…

Enough that a police association bought a billboard to warn travelers about it. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8…

A "cancellation" of a planned increase (of $19 million) to police department funding in Philadelphia is another approach taken in the defunding police efforts.

Lemme repeat. It's all about the verbiage.

July 2020, Washington DC. The city council slashed $15 million from the police budget. nbcwashington.com/news/local/dc-…

Police were therefore defunded... but YES there's nuances. In terms of the WHO and HOW of the matter.
(e.g.
dcist.com/story/20/10/26…)

THANKFULLY in the case of Washington DC's police defunding, the shell game of moving money around is explained. wusa9.com/article/news/v…

"So, we can verify that yes, MPD’s budget has been cut by millions in 2020."

September 2020. Milwaukee loses 120 Police Officers because of budget... BUT the money there shifted around to other police department costs.

SO AGAIN. There IS meaningful distinctions, in terms of the details.
jsonline.com/story/news/loc…
wpr.org/120-milwaukee-…

^^ I'm a layman and not a cop.

But in terms of this "DEFUND POLICE" situation: 120 less police officers is 120 less cops. So there's still the same chance of the impact being felt. Despite, TECHNICALLY, NOT defunding. In Milwaukee's case.

BUT to get back to the main point.

there's no denying the fact that as early as June 2nd 2020 the Black Lives Matter official Twitter account listed "WE DEMAND A DIVESTMENT FROM POLICE" as a demand. archive.is/xKpFf

SEATTLE's November 2020 vote to defund police by "almost 20%" of their budget WAS politically motivated, and thus a more clear-cut example.

TWO MILLION DOLLARYDOOS taken away because of "pressure from activists." crosscut.com/news/2020/11/s…

PORTLAND, June 2020. Police defunded by $15 million. (activist pressure noted as playing a prominent role) opb.org/news/article/p…

PORTLAND, November 2020. The double dip attempt to try and cut a further $18 million doesn't fly though. opb.org/article/2020/1…

LOS ANGELES*, July 2020. "LA City Council Slashes LAPD Funding By $150M" losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/07/01/la-…

Boom.

(*In the case of LA it gets too confusing to keep track of now though. There was a veto? and other stuff. BUT IT HAPPENED. That's what's relevant.) laist.com/news/garcetti-…

HARTFORD CONNECTICUT (June 2020): "We're gonna defund police, yeah!" courant.com/community/hart…

HARTFORD CONNECTICUT (May 2021): "... Never mind we're gonna give police the money back." courant.com/community/hart…

Honorable mention to Salt Lake City, Utah, who managed to do a halfway version of police defunding in June 2020. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
deseret.com/utah/2020/6/16…

Intermission. When this thread returns: we'll look at the people on Twitter who preached that we needed to defund the police last summer.

TUNE IN

Alright. Let's reset and renew focus here. The pushers.

"Yes, Democrats support defunding the police." -- via twitter.com/townhallcom/

Again. I could stop with this. But I wanna go deeper.

NOW. If I was like "The Squad are the culprits behind pushing the Defund Police message right from the get-go."

While TECHNICALLY I could do that... but then you as the reader don't get the chance to meaningfully LEARN anything beyond that conclusion, alone.

YA GET WHAT I MEAN?

Look a little closer and you'll find that media activists laid the defund police messaging groundwork.

May 30th 2020: New York Times and Intercept have articles.

(and in the case of VICE staffers/writers got directly involved)

Now BLM's Twitter account couldn't carry all the water of the "DEFUND POLICE" messaging by themselves, could they?

Of course not. There were miscellaneous activist groups setting up this position.

May 30th 2020, BLM Chicago was the first to add the Defund Police hashtag alongside their thread documenting the day's protest/riot.

AND LORD ALMIGHTY the power of the hashtag is very infinite, can confirm.

ALL THE MEANWHILE of May 2020 end / June 2020 start? Black Actor Kendrick Sampson has a bad police encounter plus Emily Ratajkowski's 1 million plus followers equals HUGE amplification for the defund police idea to spread.

If you want a "moment" moment it took off?
Hereabouts!!!

^^ Let me stress that point. This "maximum impact" moment NEEDED the other ingredients of activists organizing and a hashtag, for it to properly take off.

Think of it like a rocket ship.

Yeah there's computers, and equipment.... BUT THE FUEL makes it go to space.

^ THIS is all how, on June 2nd 2020: The BLM groups properly say "DEFUND POLICE" as (one of their) formal demand position.

THEN Hollywood activist Jane Fonda signal boosts them hours later that same day.

So now it was official.

Defund Police ---> Black Lives Matter official policy position

BLM ---> backed by Democrats in Congress

So yes. Democrats back the defunding of police forces across the USA. I proved it above.

Checkmate, Sen. Hirono.😎

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE (another intermission)

When we come back in this thread, we'll make the connection between:
-- BLM making defunding police part of their official policy position
AND
-- It becoming an Election 2020 talking point.

STAY TUNED

So. On the ONE HAND we have the Defund Police policy concept defined **CONCRETELY.**

Seriously, it's right here in these screenshots.

Activists made this INTRICATE CHART n' stuff, that explores the nitty gritty.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, in HAVING all this specific detail, the Defund Police concept can also be NEBULOUS.

For example, this BLM tweet that included it while accusing Trump of ordering an assault on protesters in June 2020.

(**a now debunked claim nbcnews.com/politics/donal…)

Don't get confused by me saying "Defund Police" as a concept is simultaneously intricately defined while also seemingly vague, both at once.

^ HOWEVER this dynamic establishes why, by June 4/5 2020, it appears as if "Defund Police" had ALWAYS been a thing talked about w/ BLM.

And, just to double check my claim, yeah.

PRIOR TO the start of Summer 2020 and riots following George Floyd's death, the Defund Police concept was relegated to sparingly being brought up by far leftists.

It's fascinating to see how it evolved, tbh.🧐

^ (more)

FAST FORWARD to June 6th and 7th 2020? "DEFUND THE POLICE" is painted on the streets of Washington DC.

**That's** how BLM's "Defund Police" policy was brought to the attention.

(When the message is literally painted in BIG BOLD LETTERS how could they possibly miss it?)

When you have someone acting BOTH as a Politician AND Activist, like this Seattle Socialist Councilperson was in June 2020?

There's spillover. Of roles. Of ideas.

And for "DEFUND POLICE" that spillover was a VIRALITY pathway that took it from OBSCURITY to MAINSTREAM.

When it came to pushing the Defund Police concept, YEAH in early June 2020 the establishment media were playing a role.

It was written about in Washington Post and Rolling Stone. Even Fox News made mention of it.

But hopefully I've shown how there's much more DEPTH to it all.

Basically in this thread I showed it's Twitter's fault for making Defund Police go viral.

Left: how Defund Police was interpreted, May 2020 (when it was STILL mostly an obscure concept)

Right: how Defund Police got quickly ADAPTED and REFRAMED. Because it became widespread.

AND FINALLY as we approach mid June 2020 the "DEFUND POLICE" idea reaches the status of Election 2020 talking point.

At last, ladies and gentlemen, the thread has gone full circle.

(**AS despite what Peter Daou claims: BOTH Joe Biden and Kamala Harris went on to make statements of SUPPORTING the Defund Police movement associated with BLM)

Twitter thread over. Class dismissed.

(Ignore this post I just need to add this, so I can use it for a thumbnail on the Twitter moment compilation)