Members of progressive Democratic group “The Squad” reportedly spent “tens of thousands of dollars” on private security and other forms of security services in the first quarter while publicly calling to dismantle or defund the police force due to what they claim to be “institutionalized racism” among its ranks.
The group of radical-left, female lawmakers — composed of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (New York), Ilhan Omar (Minnesota), Rashida T’laib (Michigan) and Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts) — were said to have spent for private securities for themselves, according the Daily Caller, citing Federal Election Commission (FEC) records that it reviewed.
NEW: Members of the progressive-Democrat group in Congress called "the squad" who have been pushing to defund the police, spent thousands of dollars on private security for themselves, according to FEC records reviewed by the @DailyCaller.
More here:
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) April 19, 2021
“FEC reports show Democrats New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Missouri Rep. Cori Bush each spent thousands of dollars on their own security,” the publication wrote on its report. “The payments were described in the FEC filings as either ‘security’ or ‘security services.’”
The Democratic lawmakers were reported to have spent “nearly $70,000” for private security from January to March this year alone, while at the same time demanding that police forces be “defunded” and taxpayers money for law enforcement be funneled instead for “community welfare” projects.
Democrats: “We don’t want to #DefundThePolice.”
Also Democrats: “Just kidding. We do.” pic.twitter.com/euFbq316QZ
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) April 20, 2021
Progressives also earlier signaled they wanted police duties to be transferred to social workers — leaving communities vulnerable to crimes.
“In January, February, and March of 2021, Ocasio-Cortez spent $3,000 per month on a security consultant based out of Brooklyn, New York. Records show she spent a total of $9,000 for 3 months of security consulting from this one company,” the report said.
It added that AOC also spent $24,279.13 on ‘security’ on January 25, and $3,986.60 on ‘security services’ on January 19. She spent another $849.22 on ‘security services’ on February 2.
The self-proclaimed Democratic socialist also spent money on February 25, to hire 24&7 Security & Investigation, Inc., and the details read ‘security detail in Houston, quarterly financial report.
What if activists aren’t PR firms for politicians & their demands are bc police budgets are exploding, community resources are shrinking to bankroll it, & ppl brought this up for ages but it wasn’t until they said “defund” that comfortable people started paying attn to brutality
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 2, 2020
Despite these security expenses in the first quarter,, AOC did not mince her words in January when she blasted New York’s planned $1 billion cuts from the police, saying “it did not go far enough.”
“Defunding police means defunding police,” the radical-left Democrat said. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools.”
Rep. Omar, who is also pushing for defunding the police, was reported to have spent $3,103.61 on her own private security,” according to her own expenditure report.
We lose people in the hands of police. It’s not a slogan but a policy demand. And centering the demand for equitable investments and budgets for communities across the country gets us progress and safety. https://t.co/Vu6inw4ms7
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) December 2, 2020
Pressley, another avid advocate of defunding the police, also reportedly spent $4,186.75 on “security Services,” according to her financial report — $1,292.00 while in her home state and $1,267.50 for security in Alexandria, Virginia among others.
In June last year, Pressley told TIME that she is backing efforts to defund the police, saying it is “about the investment in our communities which have historically been divested from.”
Rep. Cori Bush (Missouri) — also a member of the “expanded Squad” was also reported to have spent $30,000 on security purposes all on her own during the same period.
A GOP source just sent me this based on my story from last night on Rep. Cori Bush and the squad paying for private security despite calls to defund the police.
Her response here: pic.twitter.com/BRV5qcc5gz
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) April 20, 2021
The freshman lawmaker, who has also pushed to defund the police, spent $1,060 on security from Whole Armor Executive Protection in Bowie, Maryland on Jan. 18; $5,000 on security in her home state on Jan. 21; $530.00 on Jan. 25 in Palo Alto; and in February, the African-American lawmaker spent bulk of the reported costs for her own security in New York City and Washington D.C.
On Feb. 17, Bush spent $7,743.75 on security from RS&T Security Counseling LLC in New York City; $5,000 on security from Sandler, Reiff, Lamb, Rosenstein & Birk in Washington D.C. on Feb. 25; and $5,812.00 on security from RS&T Security Counseling, LLC again in the Big Apple on On Feb. 26.
On March 15, Bush spent $5,000 on security from Nathaniel Davis Davis, in Saint Louis, Missouri and 10 days later, on March 15, the progressive Democrat spent $2,456.25 on security from RS&T Security Consulting LLC in NYC.
Late last year, Bush criticized former President Barack Obama for not calling to defund the police. “With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence. It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police,” Bush said in a tweet.
With all due respect, Mr. President—let’s talk about losing people. We lost Michael Brown Jr. We lost Breonna Taylor. We’re losing our loved ones to police violence.
It’s not a slogan. It’s a mandate for keeping our people alive. Defund the police. https://t.co/Wsxp1Y1bBi
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) December 2, 2020
