The Detroit police chief is hitting back at Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-Mich.) call to get rid of policing and incarceration.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig appeared on CNN’s “New Day” where he called Tlaib’s comments “reckless” and “disgusting.”
He called the overall “anti-police rhetoric” some are pushing “too much.” He also pointed to Rep. Maxine Waters’s (D-Calif.) call to “get more confrontational.”
Circling back to Tlaib, who is from Michigan, Craig said, “This is about her putting attention to herself,” adding, “That’s exactly what it’s designed to do.”
He added, “It’s not productive. She doesn’t speak for the majority of Detroiters. The majority of Detroiters support this police department. They want effective and constitutional policing.”
“To make statements like ‘abolish policing,’ ‘abolish incarceration’ certainly is counterproductive.”
Tlaib responded to the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, 20, in Minnesota. She wrote in a tweet on April 12, “It wasn’t an accident. Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression [and] violence. I am done with those who condone government funded murder.”
“No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed,” she added.
CNN’s John Berman noted Tlaib’s tweets that came as clarification, where she wrote, “I understand that many are concerned about public safety, but it is clear that more investment in police, incarceration, and criminalization will not deliver that safety. Instead, we should be investing more resources into our community to tackle poverty, education inequities, and to increase job opportunities.”
Craig called Tlaib’s clarification “spot on,” adding, “We don’t disagree with increasing support for mental health … What she’s doing now is she’s peddling back because she got so much push back on her reckless comments.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib “doesn’t speak for the majority of Detroiters. The majority of Detroiters support this police department. They want effective and constitutional policing,” says Detroit Police Chief James Craig about the Michigan congresswoman.https://t.co/f9JY9DiUfu pic.twitter.com/CaU9OvVcjx
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) April 19, 2021
Craig previously responded to Tlaib’s remarks, calling them a “disgusting knee-jerk response.”
“This was a tragic incident, and it should’ve never happened,” Craig said. “But when these tragedies happen, you shouldn’t just broad-brush the entire profession.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said during a CNN interview on April 14 that he does not agree with Tlaib’s call to do away with policing.
Additionally, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “That’s not the president’s view.”
“The president’s view is that there are necessary outdated reforms that should be put in place, that there is accountability that needs to happen, that the loss of life is far too high, that these families are suffering around the country, that the Black community is exhausted from the ongoing threats they feel,” Psaki added.