This is what they do. What they’ve always done. “The NYPD Union weaponized the tragic murder of a teenage girl to undercut marijuana reform. The brazenness of their cynicism here should expose any & all efforts to use future tragedies to fit their agenda.”rollingstone.com/culture/cultur…
Head of NYPD Union: “An 18 y/o college student murdered in a park to buy marijuana. We don’t enforce marijuana laws anymore. We’re basically hands-off on the enforcement of marijuana. Here we have a student murdered by a 13-year-old, we have a common denominator: marijuana.”
Here’s former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik fearmongering & calling for harshness: “The Murder of 18y/o Tessa Majors is the fault of every NYC Socialist Leftist Corrupt Politician who has been part of the reversal of Rudy Giuliani’s Crime Reduction Initiatives started in 94.”
Piers Morgan mirroring language from Trump’s infamous Central Park ads: “Tessa’s murderers were a bunch of young kids who felt confident enough to carry knives and rob people in a public park. Where did they get their confidence? Do they fear the police any longer?”
As @avitale points out: “Mullins has been a consistent voice for hard right-wing view about law & order. Any opportunity to argue for more criminalization of vulnerable communities he jumps in. Thinks solution to every problem is ‘Throw more police at it & send people to prison.”
On Jan 1, 2020, commonsense bail reform will begin in NY. No more jailing people for most misdemeanors & non-violent felonies. Fearmongering has reached a fever pitch already. It’s going to get much worse. They will weaponize every tragedy against the new laws. Patience is needed
Anytime they weaponize fear, we must remember that use of fear (& our belief in it) is what produced the racist, costly, ineffective, & irrational crisis most know today as “mass incarceration.” To get out of this mess we must have patience for change or else nothing ever will.
As we enter 2020, recognize the scare tactics for what they are. And as NYT, demand: “Prosecutors & police unions trying to thwart the will of the voters & undermine the public’s trust in long-overdue reforms should instead get to work making the change.”nytimes.com/2019/11/17/opi…
