The White House defended President Joe Biden from critics who say he has not forcefully condemned the recent spate of attacks on police officers.
Press secretary Jen Psaki bristled at the suggestion Biden was exacerbating low morale among law enforcement ranks, citing speeches and statements he has made, as well as his outreach to the victims’ families.
“I think that’s an inaccurate characterization,” she told a reporter Thursday. “He has a long record of advocating for, supporting through funding, through speaking out [on] the role of local police, of national police,” she said, adding they play an important role in addressing crime and keeping communities safe.
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En route to New York City to cover Biden’s meetings with Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul about crime and gun violence, the reporter also asked why the president did not attend the funerals of New York Police Department detectives Wilbert Mora and Jason Rivera. The partners were fatally shot last month while responding to a domestic violence call in Harlem.
“We have been planning this trip in coordination with the mayor’s office,” she replied. “We have invited a number of officials to attend the trip.”
Dominique Luzuriaga, Rivera’s widow, last week slammed “the system,” saying that it “continues to fail us” and “we are not safe anymore.”
Biden is set to announce a slate of new measures alongside Adams and Hochul Thursday, including that he will direct every U.S. Attorney’s Office nationwide to increase resources for district-specific violent crime strategies and clamp down on the “Iron Pipeline,” the illegal flow of guns sold in the South, transported up the East Coast, and found at crime scenes in cities from Baltimore to New York.
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A senior administration aide told reporters Wednesday Biden would additionally implore Congress to approve $500 million in new funding “for proven strategies we know will reduce gun crime,” such as $300 million to expand the COPS Hiring Program and $200 million for evidence-based community violence interventions.
