Rev. Al Sharpton: Defunding the Police Appeals to “Latte Liberals,” Not People on the Ground

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The Reverend Al Sharpton voiced opposition to the defund-the-police movement that has been sweeping the nation in recent months this morning.

Discussing the deteriorating public safety situation in New York City on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Sharpton took issue with the idea of defunding the police, especially because it disproportionately affects people in poorer, and of-color neighborhoods.

“To take all policing off is something…a ‘Latte Liberal’ may go for as they sit around the Hamptons discussing this as an academic problem, but people living on the ground need proper policing.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city’s government have cut more than $1 billion from the NYPD’s budget in recent months, resulting in the disbanding of prominent anti-street-crime units. A decision prominent even members of the city’s African-American community are have called for the reversal of.

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