ICYMI: New York Democrat Bridget Fleming in 2020: ‘Widespread Inequity, Racial injustice’ Exist Within Law Enforcement
Bridget Fleming in 2020 called for the consideration of reallocating police funds and asserted “there is widespread inequity and racial injustice” in government and law enforcement.
Fleming is an anti-law enforcement Democrat backed by defund the police groups like Working Families Party, Sierra Club, Indivisible, NARAL, and the queen of cashless bail Kathy Hochul – all as crime becomes a top issue for voters.
In case you missed it…
New York Democrat Bridget Fleming in 2020: ‘Widespread Inequity, Racial injustice’ Exist Within Law Enforcement
October 3, 2022
In June 2020, weeks after the death of George Floyd, Fleming, a Suffolk County legislator, held a virtual “East Hampton Get Out the Early Vote Rally” as part of her failed Congressional campaign in that year’s Democrat primary. During the virtual rally, she was asked, “what does defunding the police look like for Suffolk County” and if she thinks officers in the county are paid too much.
In a lengthy response, Fleming declared that “[t]he outrage and the frustration that has been demonstrated in response” to Floyd’s death, as well as “the murders of Ahmaud Ashbury [sic] and Breonna Taylor and many others is very real and justified.”
She also stated that “this concept of defunding the police is a very broad concept that hasn’t been very well-defined” before later going on to call for county officials to entertain reallocating police funds to other government programs:
Oh, the other thing is I do also recognize that the funding that we’re talking about – yes, the Suffolk police make, there is a lot of money in those police contracts, and I do think it makes sense to continue to look at priorities with regard to support for other areas of government which include education, social services, employment opportunities. The things that lift a community up and prevent crime from happening. I agree with that as well. We need to strike a balance.
The same day, Fleming participated in a debate held by the Brookhaven Town Jeffersonian Democratic Club with her then-primary opponent Nancy Goroff. When asked, “How do we stop the killing and abuse of African Americans at the hands of police” and if she supports defunding police, Fleming asserted that “inequity and racial injustice” are rooted in law enforcement and other government institutions.
“There is no question that there is widespread inequity and racial injustice in systems of government, throughout government, and in law enforcement in our nation, and we need to take that very seriously,” she said.
Breitbart News reached out to Fleming’s campaign to see if she stood by her comments about “widespread inequity and racial injustice… in law enforcement.”
“I am proud of my strong relationship with our police officers. I have supported their efforts throughout my public service career, which is why I have the endorsement of the Suffolk PBA, Southampton PBA, and Police Conference of New York (PCNY),” Fleming said in a statement.
The candidate is also endorsed by the leftist Working Families Party’s New York arm. Its website asserts the party is “leading the fight for social, racial, and economic justice in New York state.”
“By pushing for progressive legislation and by also training, recruiting and supporting progressive leaders to run for office, we form a unique bridge between progressive activism and electoral success,” it adds.
Days after Floyd’s death in 2020, the national branch of the party called for defunding the police in a tweet.
What is more, the New York Working Families Party was part of a broad coalition that penned a letter to state leadership praising the no-cash bail laws that disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) signed into law and took effect in 2020. The reforms allow those “accused of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, child sex crimes, and making threats of terrorism to walk free from jail without ever having to post bail,” as Breitbart News has noted.
The laws, which have faced intense criticism, came under heightened scrutiny this July after an attack on Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) during a campaign stop in Fairport.
“The suspect, identified as 43-year-old David G. Jakubonis, jumped on stage and accosted the congressman while wielding a double-jointed sharp object that he raised to Zeldin’s neck,” Breitbart News noted. Zeldin was able to stave off the attacker and got away unscathed before finishing his speech.
“They arrested the attacker, and as, unfortunately, we have all experienced now in many other cases under New York’s laws, because of New York’s cashless bail law, within hours, he was immediately released and back on the street,” Zeldin told Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Saturday days after the attack.
“I keep hearing stories of people who get released on cashless bail, and then they go out and commit additional offenses,” Zeldin detailed. “And judges in case after case, wanting to be able to keep somebody detained or setting cash bail because they are concerned about the person being a flight-risk, maybe they’re concerned about an individual being dangerous, maybe it’s something in their past with a criminal record and past events, maybe its the particular seriousness of the offense. That discretion doesn’t exist for all sorts of different laws that are on the books.”