A group of activists painted a street outside Atlanta’s police headquarters with “defund police” amid growing calls to divert resources from law enforcement to other programs.
Culture ATL, a group affiliated with the Movement for Black Lives, tweeted a video of the message painted in yellow letters in the middle of Atlanta’s Pryor Street.
“Tonight protestors in Atlanta wrote ‘Defund Police’ at the downtown police headquarters. We are the @Mvmnt4BlkLives #DefundPolice #FundBlackCommunities,” the group said.
Tonight protestors in Atlanta wrote “Defund Police” at the downtown police headquarters. We are the @Mvmnt4BlkLives #DefundPolice #FundBlackCommunities pic.twitter.com/dt3BhiwyAJ
— CultureM4BL (@CultureM4BL) June 10, 2020
Police efforts to wash away the message were unsuccessful, 360aproko reported, because it appears the paint is not water-based. It was not clear what the department will do to remove the message.
Calls to defund police departments have grown since the death of George Floyd. Criminal justice advocates have cited the deaths of several unarmed black people by police and racial discrimination. Defund the police means pressuring officials to scale back police budgets to rein in police misconduct, and allocating those resources elsewhere.
Some cities — including New York and Los Angeles — have taken steps to do so.
A Republican-led resolution to oppose efforts to defund police agencies failed in the Senate Wednesday after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., blocked the measure.
He instead proposed his own police reform plan, which was then blocked by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
