Members of the Minneapolis City Council have their own city-funded private security detachments amidst their attempts to abolish the police.
Councilmembers Andrea Jenkins, Phillipe Cunningham and Alondra Cano have racked up a security bill for in excess of $60,000 over the past three weeks. The city is spending $4,500 per day to furnish the three council members with personal protection details, per Fox 9. Security is provided by two firms: Aegis and BelCom.
A city spokesperson says that the council members cannot simply use the police to protect them, because the cops are needed elsewhere in the city. Meanwhile, reports abound of law enforcement refusing or neglecting to respond to reports of crime in Minneapolis.
“My concern is the large number of white nationalist [sic] in our city and other threatening communications I’ve been receiving,” says Jenkins, adding that some of these threats relate to Jenkins’s sexual identity. Both Cunningham and Jenkins are transgender.
Jenkins has requested private security since entering office, per Fox 9.
The Minneapolis City Council began its attempts to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) amidst the George Floyd riots. What started as provocative anti-police tweets and statements from councilmembers, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s son, has now accelerated significantly.
On Friday, the council unanimously voted to advance a plan aimed at dismantling the police department. If the council’s vision is achieved, “a department of community safety and violence prevention” will replace the cops and purportedly take “a holistic, public-health-oriented approach” to law enforcement, per the Washington Examiner.
The council also wants to alter the City Charter in order to give itself the power to do away with the police. Presently, they are required by the Charter to fund the MPD. However, this soon may no longer be the case. Read about the council’s efforts to amend the City Charter here: [Minneapolis City Council Wants To Give Themselves The Power To Abolish Police].
Kyle Hooten
Kyle Hooten is Managing Editor of Alpha News. His coverage of Minneapolis has been featured on television shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight and in print media outlets like the Wall Street Journal.
