Several activists from the “defund the police” movement have visited the White House, according to visitor logs.
Fox News reported Monday the Biden administration has “quietly maintained relationships with some of the driving forces” behind the movement.
According to the outlet, Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, visited the White House in Summer 2021.
A Color of Change petition stated, “We know that policing doesn’t keep us safe, communities do.”
It continues, “Policing doesn’t lead to thriving communities, investment does.”
The petition argued, “We must begin to envision the society that functions for ALL of us and we must begin by divesting from and dismantling the systems that unjustly harm Black people.”
Additionally, the outlet pointed out the visitor logs show a member of the Marguerite Casey Foundation visited the White House.
Carmen Rojas, the president and CEO of the foundation, visited in December 2021.
Rojas tweeted in April 2021, “So many people are twisting themselves into word pretzels. They say we need justice in one breathe and not all police are bad in the next.”
She continued, “We must be unwavering in our commitment to freedom. The best way to realize it is to defund the police and support abolition. Period.”
So many people are twisting themselves into word pretzels. They say we need justice in one breathe & not all police are bad in the next. We must be unwavering in our commitment to freedom. The best way to realize it is to defund the police and support abolition. Period.
— Carmen Rojas, PhD 🐜 (@crojasphd) April 16, 2021
Another activist a part of the movement that visited the White House was Tylik McMillan, who serves as the “National Director of Youth [and] College” at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, as Fox News reported.
The president previously spoke out against defunding the police during his State of the Union address in March.
“We should all agree: The answer is not to defund the police,” Biden said.
He added, “The answer is to fund the police with the resources and training they need to protect our communities.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) earlier this year made it clear defunding the police was not the position of the Democratic Party.
“Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office,” Pelosi said.
