That phrase was probably a bad choice of words; I believe the fuller intent was

"Let's fund initiatives which build our community, like teachers and school lunch so our kids aren't hungry. That's more important than funding police who come from outside our community and have a reputation for extortion and murder of our citizens instead of protecting us."

You may disagree with the read on the situation of the people involved, but I would be very surprised if you support the idea of you being taxed to support an armed force which was sent into your community and only ever acted in a hostile way towards you.

By the way, the DOJ seems also to feel that the Minneapolis Police was hostile to the citizens

Minneapolis Police Used Illegal, Abusive Practices for Years, DOJ Finds https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36917349

Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23403891

At urging of Minneapolis police, EMS workers subdued dozens with ketamine https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17328770

And the slogan comes as part of a larger discussion of what the role of police should be in society, see i.e.

Minneapolis City Council looking into disbanding police department https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23398910

> We can totally reimagine what public safety means, what skills we’re recruiting for, what tools we do and don’t need. We can invest in cultural competency and mental health training, de-escalation and conflict resolution.

> We can resolve confusion over a $20 grocery transaction without drawing a weapon, or pulling out handcuffs.

> The whole world is watching, and we can declare policing as we know it a thing of the past, and create a compassionate, non-violent future. It will be hard. But so is managing a dysfunctional relationship with an unaccountable armed force in our city.

That phrase got so much traction precisely because it's a bad choice of words. It's easy to dismiss a movement if you latch onto the worst framing you can find, take it literally to the point of bad faith, and refuse to dig any deeper.

>We can resolve confusion over a $20 grocery transaction without drawing a weapon, or pulling out handcuffs.

In what world is trying to pay with a counterfeit bill "confusion over a grocery transaction?"

> a bad choice of words

I think you had ample chance to sell your ideas, and you lost:

https://www.npr.org/2021/11/02/1051617581/minneapolis-police...

It was probably a bad choice of words, but chosen for a reason. I'm guessing of course, but I think the people that picked those words knew what they were doing. They wanted to appeal to people who think the police do more harm than good.

Sigh...

Remove funding for the police to gather used and new military gear to use against the populace, while much more accurate - isn't as sticky...

Sticky thoughts win over accurate ones. Truth needs a proper wrapping now a-days to even get looked at.

How about this for a new phase:

"pay for: effective Detectives; not toys."

OR:

"detectives solves cases: military toys melt faces."

"Demilitarize the police" would certainly have been a better slogan than "defund the police".

It was more accurate. I've heard that around the same time defund was going around...

But humans don't select catch-phases and sound-bites by their truth value...

Sticky truths: that's what we need.

>> Remove funding for the police to gather used and new military gear to use against the populace

That's not what I remember. I remember calls in the most highly regarded news media to literally abolish the police.

Do you remember those?

I remember what the media was saying was different from what the leftists were saying. I remember the twisting of the most offensive viral take to garner views for the news outlets, sure...

Do you believe everything you see on TV?

You say that as though this is a brand new problem and not something that's been an issue for many, many decades regardless of what party has majority control at the federal level.

That's hardly a supported policy you'd find in the Democratic party platform, or the position of the Biden administration. Don't confuse a few of the most left leaning members of the party with the whole. It's a big tent.

https://www.cnn.com/factsfirst/politics/factcheck_fa5dd2d9-b...

This is the kind of cultural literacy that comes from getting your politics from morons on Twitter.