The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) will be receiving millions of dollars as part of an increase in the department’s budget, as unveiled by the mayor on Dec. 10, essentially returning to levels before the region was the hotbed for the “defund the police” movement.
Article by Naveen Athrappully from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.
Mayor Jacob Frey and the city council approved a $1.6 billion budget with $191 million allocated to the police department just a month after radical activists called for abolishing the police altogether. Crime has surged since the death of George Floyd last year, after which the city invested in alternative initiatives that have mostly failed to yield results.
According to Frey’s spokeswoman, the new budget reflects a “sustained commitment to public safety,” Fox News reported. The city has lost about 300 officers during the past two years following budget cuts, and the mayor expects to recruit more people into the force while replenishing it to normal levels.
Though some city councilmembers weren’t too keen on restoring police funding, they weren’t very vocal against it, either, and there was little effort to oppose it.
“There wasn’t more of that type of action because there wasn’t the political will, really, to do so,” said Councilmember Phillipe Cunningham, according to the Star Tribune.
Cunningham was elected to public office in 2017 and lost his reelection bid this fall. He voted to dismantle the MPD and move funds toward violence prevention and other similar programs, while at the same time using public funds to hire private security.
Some community groups said that officials had stuck behind campaign promises and prioritized public safety through funding the police.
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“This vote is a first step on a long road back from the division over public safety that has characterized the past 18 tumultuous months in Minneapolis,” Steve Cramer, president of the Downtown Council, told Star Tribune.
On the other side, activists bemoaned the budget increase for a department that they claim has a history of perpetuating racial inequality.
“I think many people in Minneapolis feel dismayed,” said Kenza Hadj-Moussa, a spokeswoman for the progressive organization TakeAction Minnesota. “What we’ve seen [is], year after year, no matter what’s happening with crime, the MPD always demands more resources.”
Several lawsuits had been filed by Minneapolis residents to retain the police department and block its size reductions. On Nov. 2, 80,506 voters in the city, or a 56.2 percent majority, rejected a proposal to replace the MPD with a department of public safety. In the vote, 62,813 people wanted to remove the police.
Based on data collected by NeighborhoodScout, when compared to similar communities, Minneapolis has one of the highest crime rates in the country. Other regions in Minnesota, over 98 percent, are considered safer than Minneapolis, where an individual’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime is 1 in 18.
The city also has one of the highest homicide rates in the United States. The chance of getting your vehicle stolen in Minneapolis is 1 in 145, which is again one of the highest in the country. Property crimes including arson, larceny, and burglary are at a peak rate of 48 per 1,000 people.
Image by Chad Davis via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.
Will America-First News Outlets Make it to 2023?
Things are looking grim for conservative and populist news sites.
There’s something happening behind the scenes at several popular conservative news outlets. 2021 was bad, but 2022 is proving to be disastrous for news sites that aren’t “playing ball” with the corporate media narrative. It’s being said that advertisers are cracking down, forcing some of the biggest ad networks like Google and Yahoo to pull their inventory from conservative outlets. This has had two major effects. First, it has cooled most conservative outlets from discussing “taboo” topics like Pandemic Panic Theater, voter fraud, or The Great Reset. Second, it has isolated those ad networks that aren’t playing ball.
Certain topics are anathema for most ad networks. Speaking out against vaccines or vaccine mandates is a certain path to being demonetized. Highlighting voter fraud in the 2020 and future elections is another instant advertising death penalty. Throw in truthful stories about climate change hysteria, Critical Race Theory, and the border crisis and it’s easy to understand how difficult it is for America-First news outlets to spread the facts, share conservative opinions, and still pay the bills.
Without naming names, I have been told of several news outlets who have been forced to either consolidate with larger organizations or who have backed down on covering certain topics out of fear of being “canceled” by the ad networks. I get it. This is a business for many of us and it’s not very profitable. Those of us who do this for a living are often barely squeaking by, so loss of additional revenue can often mean being forced to make cuts. That means not being able to cover the topics properly. Its a Catch-22: Tell the truth and lose the money necessary to keep telling the truth, or avoid the truth and make enough money to survive. Those who have chosen survival simply aren’t able to spread the truth properly.
We will never avoid the truth. The Lord will provide if it is His will. Our job is simply to share the facts, spread the Gospel, and educate as many Americans as possible while exposing the forces of evil.
To those who have the means, we ask that you please donate. We have options available now, but there is no telling when those options will cancel us. We have our GivingFuel page. There have been many who have been canceled by PayPal, but for now it’s still an option. Your generosity is what keeps these sites running and allows us to get the truth to the masses. We’ve had great success in growing but we know we can do more with your assistance.
Thank you, and God Bless!
JD Rucker