Kamala Harris Pushed for Removing School Police to Combat Racial Inequities During 2019 Presidential Campaign
Vice President Kamala Harris called for the removal of police officers from schools in 2019 to address racial disparities in student discipline, according to remarks she made during her first presidential campaign.
In a 2019 interview during her initial run for the presidency, then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) argued for eliminating on-campus police presence to address racial inequities.
In a recently resurfaced clip of the event, Harris voices her concerns about the disproportionate rates of suspensions and expulsions among black and brown students, calling for a reevaluation of how discipline is enforced in schools.
“What we need to do about demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools. We need to deal with the reality and speak the truth about the inequities around school discipline,” she says. “Where in particular, black and brown boys are being expelled and or suspended as young as … in elementary school.”
Her comments came during the Presidential Justice Forum at Benedict College in South Carolina where she outlined her vision for criminal justice reform, including reducing juvenile incarceration, which she described as “traumatic,” and ending solitary confinement for minors.
In light of her comments, backlash ensued online, with many expressing concerns over the safety implications of her proposal.
“Why does she want our kids to be less safe?” asked Donald Trump Jr.
“Insanity,” responded radio talker Clay Travis. “I want every school to have an officer and I’m glad my kids schools have them.”
“This is sickening,” wrote Parkland parent Andrew Pollack. “My daughter was killed because Parkland didn’t have enough security.”
“We need more school resource officers — not fewer!” he added.
“Kamala’s policies show how much she hates the police,” insisted former top Trump administration official and former U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell.
“Once the General Public Realizes how radical Kamala is, its over,” wrote podcast host Cash Loren.
Harris’s stance on demilitarizing schools was part of a broader criminal justice reform platform she promoted during her 2020 presidential bid.
During the 2020 anti-police riots — the most costly in U.S. history — many leaders in blue cities caved to BLM’s (Black Lives Matter) call to “defund the police,” which became popular with Democrats during and after the 2020 presidential election season.
However, crime surged nationwide after progressives campaigned endlessly against police, leading to eroded confidence in law enforcement, sunken police morale, and an officer exodus.
Following the defunding of police in many Democrat cities, murder rates rose 16 percent in 2021 across major U.S. cities, a trend which bled into the following years.
Flashback: D.C. Mayor Dodges When Asked If She’ll Remove “Defund The Police” Street Art
Mayor Muriel Bowser / Periscope
Big cities also continued to see an upward trend of violent crime in places such as Los Angeles and New York City — both of which defunded their departments and employed soft-on-crime “bail reform,” which allows career criminals back on the streets.
In response, Democrats began distancing themselves from the policies they pushed, at one point even attempting to blame Republicans for defunding police.
Similarly, several school districts across the nation responded to protests over George Floyd’s death by severing ties with police departments. However, rising concerns over school violence later prompted some districts to reinstate school resource officers.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
Originally Posted At www.breitbart.com
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