As lead up to tomorrow's NYC budget vote, we want to remind everyone that when we say #DefundPolice we also mean #DefundDAs. Here are 8 reasons why:
[THREAD 1/10]
[THREAD 1/10]
#1 DAs are the top law enforcement official in any given local government. They work with the police to criminalize and punish people. i.e. prosecutors *are* cops. Less policing must inherently mean fewer prosecutors and less prosecution #DefundDAs #DefundNYPD 2/10
#2 Prosecution cannot address the violence of policing. Calls for the prosecution of cops as a way to bring justice is misguided because it's asking the same system that caused the harm in the first place to also address it. 3/10
#3 Prosecution is not a way to address violence or harm period. The only solution prosecution offers is punishment in the form of caging or surveillance. Prosecution does not seek to repair the harm caused or support the person who caused harm in taking accountability.4/10
#4 Prosecution only exacerbates harm and violence.If we want to ensure healing and safety, we should divest from the PIC and invest in the things that keep people safe, like healthcare, housing, jobs with living wages, and the resources that help people & communities thrive. 5/10
#5 Prosecutors aggressively prosecute survivors of gender-based and domestic violence who acted in self-defense. 6/11
For people who experience abuse, the DA & PIC become the next abuser; w/ character assassinations, disbelieving them, controlling their movement & communications, and ultimately sending them to jails/prisons, which are sites of gender-based violence. 7/11
#6 Prosecutors prosecute. They send people to prison and jail, parole and probation. They criminalize people for societal failings like poverty and systemic racism. Prosecution extends & exacerbates these systemic injustices and makes them seem like personal issues. 8/11
#7 Saying someone is a “good” or “progressive” prosecutor individualizes what is a systemic problem. Focusing on individual prosecutors and their politics detracts from the fact that the system needs to be abolished. 9/11
#8 As PIC abolitionists, we are working towards a future w/out prosecutors & w/out prosecution. We get closer to that future as we shrink the size/resources/power of the prosecuting office. Defunding is an abolitionist strategy. This is why we must #DefundDAs AND #DefundPolice.
Call your city councilperson to demand they vote tomorrow to #DefundDAs alongside #DefundNYPD! Use this script -> bit.ly/AbolishNYPD 10/10
