Boston Rev. Eugene Rivers III, director at the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies, calls out Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., for defending her need for private security while she pushes the defunding of police.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Thank you very much
well defund for me, but not for t
major backlash after major calls
to defund the police, despite
having paid seventy thousand dollars on her own
security detail. Just in the last
couple of months
watch this
im gonna make sure I have
security because I know I have
had attempts on my life
and I have too much work to do.
There are too many people that
need help right now for me to
allow that.
So if I end up spending two hundred thousand,
if I spend ten more dollars 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 were trying
to save lives.
Brian yup crime continues to
skyrocket in major: U Dot S cities.
Almost all
our next guest has seen
firsthand how the defund
movement has hurt community.
He is calling on liberal leaders
to take action.
Ainsley, the founder and
director of the see more
institute for Black church and
policy studies.
He has been working for what
decades reverend to get the
black community and churches to
work with police
thats, correct
Ainsley. You worked you and the
Clinton and President Bush to
do
this. We worked with the Bush
administration and played a
major role, assisting in the
development of the faith based
initiative, which was one of the
single initiatives led by the
Bush administration, and I want
to say very quickly because I
know we are limited for time.
The call for the defunding
police is not wrong its absurd
and ridiculous.
It is absolutely aint electric
actual and ideological crime
against black people to talk
about defunding, the police had
the city of Boston has as a
result of good policing,
supported Bay, the black
community. We actually have a
decline in violence because
number one we supported law
enforcement,
we supported the law
enforcement
and they have got developed the
best partnerships that exist in
the country and function as a
prototype.
Ms Bush should be arrested for
political and ideological
malpractice,
its absurd
Steve Reverend. She is going to
watch this tape later today. If
she is not watching it live
right now
explain to her why she is wrong
its real basic
in our poorest black
neighborhoods. We dont need to
defund police.
We need to support and improve
policing,
and one does that by developing
strategic partnerships,
its not a question of fighting
harder.
Its about organizing smarter
Ms Bush come to Boston, to see
the model that exist and, in
fact, frankly, the best model in
the country
im going to be meeting with
people in New York City, with
some of the staff for Eric Adams
to talk about developing faith
based law enforcement
partnerships
thats the model-
that is the answer to black
lives matter.
Brian. The other thing is gangs
the gangs they are shooting
each other
people getting in in the crossfi.
Where do you start?
Listen? I will give you the
bullet points
number one. The black churches
with support must mentor
monitor and, minister to the most
at risk, young black males that
are involved in gangs
in Boston thats. What we did
we put clergy on the streets,
working with law enforcement,
doing the outreach to the gangs,
black lives matter, never showed
up
ever
Ainsley. How many of those lives
did you change? Did you save? Do
you think?
Listen? I will say this
because I dont want to be
inaccurate on television
in the city of Boston. We are
well known by all the gangs.
If a young dude wanted to get
out of the gang he he had optio.
The thing is: this is very
important.
We werent guaranteeing their
success.
We were saying you have an
option.
You had an opportunity
and its on you,
we told out of every ten black
kids in the inner city. Seven
are good,
three are stupid and one is a
real criminal that needs to go
to jail.
We went onto the streets,
listen if we can get a national
campaign where faith communities
work, hand in hand with law
enforcement. We can objectively
reduce violence and has been the
case in the city of Boston,
which is a national model
Steve. Nobody knows this topic
better than you because, as
Ainsley said, you have been
working on this for decades,
its a pleasure to have you
Reverend Eugene Rivers III, the
director of Seymour Institute.
Transcript generated on 2021-08-07.