Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell ripped Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo. for demanding the defunding of law enforcement while explaining why it is important she remain under the guard of private security – noting that most people in her violent St. Louis district cannot afford it for themselves.
Bush, who also represents Maryland Heights and Ferguson, claimed in an interview that her constituents will understand her situation because she is working to "save 11 million people from being evicted, or could possibly have a death attempt on my life."
"If I end up spending $200,000, if I spent $10 more on it, you know what, I get to be here to do the work. So suck it up – and defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets because we are trying to save lives," Bush said in a CBS News interview.
Terrell told "Hannity" on Thursday that Bush is absurd and making a dubious argument:
"She talks about flaunting $70-, $80,000 on her private security but what about the Black people in Chicago, L.A., Washington, D.C., they don’t have $100,000, they are just trying to put food on the table. She’s not helping Black people, she is gaslighting black people," he said of the freshman "Squad" member.
"She needs to pick a side. Either she helps the Black people in her community or she goes with the criminals. It is insulting for her to sit there and say she’s doing the work. She is doing the work for no one. She is destroying black communities by taking away their only line of defense: police."
Terrell, who is Black, said that most Black Americans want community policing in their towns and neighborhoods, and that Bush is not speaking for the Black community when she demands funding for law enforcement be cut.
"Who in her community has $100,000 to spend? It’s insulting! She doesn’t represent anybody, she doesn’t represent Black people, she represents criminals."
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During the interview, Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, echoed Terrell's argument in that most working-class people in St. Louis can't afford her pricey security and therefore depend on the police to protect and serve.
"St. Louis is one of the most dangerous cities in America. You have a 1 in 51 chance of being a victim of a crime there. 109 murderers and 100 of those victims have been Black people and they are not being killed by cops, they are being killed by criminals and murderers," he said.
"And you know who chases criminals and murderers? It is cops and that’s exactly who they want to defund."