Members of the “Squad” spent thousands on personal security despite calling for the police to be defunded in the last year.
Federal Election Commission data show that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Rep. Cori Bush each spent thousands of dollars for services listed as “security” or “security services” in the last few months.
Ocasio-Cortez spent $3,000 per month in January, February, and March on security from one firm out of New York City.
Omar, meanwhile, spent a total of $3,103.61 on security during those same months, and Pressley spent $4,186.75 on “Security Services.”
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Bush, who is a freshman congresswoman, spent the most on security, to the tune of more than $32,000, according to an April quarterly 2021 financial report.
All four women joined the chorus of Democrats and Black Lives Matter activists who demanded that law enforcement be defunded after George Floyd’s death last May.
Ocasio-Cortez, for example, rebuked New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last June for proposing a $1 billion cut to the New York Police Department, saying it wasn’t nearly enough.
“Defunding police means defunding police,” the congresswoman said in a statement. “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.”
That same month, Omar tweeted that the “‘defund the police’ movement, is one of reimagining the current police system to build an entity that does not violate us, while relocating funds to invest in community services.”
“Let’s be clear, the people who now oppose this, have always opposed calls for systematic change,” she said.
The “defund the police” movement, is one of reimagining the current police system to build an entity that does not violate us, while relocating funds to invest in community services.
Let’s be clear, the people who now oppose this, have always opposed calls for systematic change. https://t.co/SEh97GS9hg
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 9, 2020
Members of the “Squad” have also been unafraid in criticizing fellow Democrats for not supporting the movement, with Bush taking aim at former President Barack Obama for not supporting their calls.
“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 December 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
Pressley has also said she supports the defund the police movement, telling Time last June that it is about “true reparations.”
“This is simply about a refund. This is about true reparations. This is about investment in communities,” Pressley said. “There’s a reason why the Congressional Black Caucus submits an alternative budget every year. Because we know that our communities have been historically under resourced, underinvested in, and divested [from].”
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“Of course, our first responders have a role to play in society, but they needn’t play a role in every part of society,” she said. “And they don’t want to.”
The four “Squad” members did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment on the matter.
