A catalog of celebrities have signed an open letter urging local communities to defund police department budgets.
Celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Lizzo, Natalie Portman, Megan Rapinoe, and others signed the letter, according to Rolling Stone, which urges people to vote to decrease funds going to police departments to instead have the money go toward healthcare and education.
“We call for defunding of police and for those dollars to be rerouted to create a public national healthcare system,” the letter states, citing the Urban Institute’s findings that police budgets have increased by 220% since 1977, estimating $194 billion was spent in 2017.
I signed on to #DefendBlackLives and to push to #DefundThePolice. Join our 5 days of action with @Mvmnt4BlkLives. pic.twitter.com/Sgbwtm6S2S
— John Legend (@johnlegend) June 3, 2020
“Despite continued profiling, harassment, terror and killing of Black communities, local and federal decision-makers continue to invest in the police, which leaves Black people vulnerable and our communities no safer,” it reads.
The open letter was reportedly released by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
The initiative comes after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, while he was in police custody last week. A now-fired white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, was filmed holding his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while he pleaded to be able to breathe. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers involved with the arrest have been fired but not charged.
The incident has sparked mass protests in nearly every major city in the country, with some cities experiencing rioting, violent lootings, assaults, and property destruction.
