Thread by @AWKWORDrap

The #1 way cops are equipped to repress protest movements and perform no-knock raids on private homes is the BILLIONS of $ in military weaponry from the federal govt.

This is the militarization of the police, and it’s made an already violent institution even more dangerous.

🧵

The origins of the 1033 program lie in the “forever wars” on drugs, crime, and terror.

In 1989, Congress gave the Pentagon temporary authority to give military equipment to local law enforcement.

Anything was OK as long as it was deemed suitable “in counter-drug activities.”

In 1996, Congress made the Pentagon’s temporary authority to give weapons of war to local law enforcement agencies permanent and expanded its purview to “counterterrorism”, creating 1033 as we know it.

Since, 10,000 jurisdictions have received $7 billion-plus in equipment.

Local agencies get combat-ready trucks and tanks, unmanned ground vehicles (functionally landed drones), military aircraft, machine guns, bayonets, and rocket launchers.

They also get misleadingly named non- and less-lethal weapons, used to disperse #BlackLivesMatter protests.

https://twitter.com/awkwordrap/status/1369484886332039172

More than half of all military euipment transferred through 1033 has come in the last decade.

Since 2011, transfers have averaged $390 million a year, and have been distributed to more than 6,500 local or state agencies in all 50 states and several US territories.

From 2011 to 2014 alone, the military distributed more than 29,000 military-grade rifles to 18,000 law enforcement agencies, including those attached to K-12 public schools.

And the 1033 program is not the only means by which schools, small towns and cities are militarized.

1033 is only 1 way the federal govt funnels resources into state and local PDs.

They also receive billions from the Justice Dept, Homeland Security, Joint Terrorism Task Force, FBI and Pentagon.

And there is *no* evidence these programs make communities — or police — safer.

Not only does the militarization of police via federal funding not make anyone safer, they also do *not* save taxpayers money.

In fact, the police departments with the most military gear often also have the highest budgets.

And this has always been a bi-partisan affair.

As law enforcement responded violently to protests in Ferguson, NYC and elsewhere following the police murders of Mike Brown and Eric Garner, President Obama signed E.O. 13688 in 2015, implementing some of the @ACLU’s recommended *reforms*

govinfo.gov/content/pkg/DC…

Obama’s executive order established oversight procedures for *some* classes of military equipment, banned *a few* categories of weapons, and mandated that data about the 1033 program be made public.

But it didn’t stop the arms transfers.

And Trump was OTW.

Donald Trump said he’d end Obama’s 1033 restrictions.

And in 2017, after *encouraging* #PoliceBrutality in a speech to cops in Long Island, Trump made good on his promise and rescinded the executive order.

eji.org/news/restricti…

But remember: this is not a GOP-only issue.

As @stephensemler of @security_reform pointed out in April, police will get *more* military gear under Biden than they did during Trump’s presidency.

And ICYMI, Biden also wants to give $350 billion more to police from funds earmarked for COVID relief.

https://twitter.com/stephensemler/status/1378104678328713218

On May 25, @TENDEMANDS Co-Founders @SocialistMMA, @anhiebananhie, @zoyaislove and I spoke about the militarization of police, and our second demand for demilitarization on the road to #AbolishThePolice and prisons

https://twitter.com/TENDEMANDS/status/1397275544669073411

The @TENDEMANDS music video demonstrates what the forever wars on drugs and dissent look like in our neighborhoods with militarized police protected by qualified immunity and the courts.

This is why we’re organizing to #AbolishThePolice and #AbolishPrisons.

https://twitter.com/AWKWORDrap/status/1303405849721929729

Essentially, all federal programs that provide resources and/or funding to police departments should end immediately, and the resources and funding should be redirected to alternative programs that support community safety and health.

@avitale is an expert on this:

https://twitter.com/awkwordrap/status/1408139475763466242

There are actions that can and must be taken at the federal level, as we #DefundThePolice down to zero and create the alternative programs in our communities so *we* can protect *us*

@equalityAlec has more on what you can do in your neighborhood

https://twitter.com/AWKWORDrap/status/1392575891897790467

This is #TenForJustice Demand 2 from @TENDEMANDS, outlining what must be done at the federal, state and local levels to demilitarize the police:

https://twitter.com/TENDEMANDS/status/1371589398786154496

@radleybalko shoutout to you king