Defunding the police is for 'latte liberals' living in the Hamptons, Al Sharpton blasts, says ‘proper policing’ needed

Civil rights activist turned MSNBC host has made it clear he is not in support of defunding the police, calling the idea something only a “latte liberal” would support.

On the same episode of ‘Morning Joe’ where co-anchor Willie Geist downplayed violence in New York City, saying it does not feel “different or unsafe” to him, Sharpton highlighted increasing crime.

“We’ve always heard about the tale of two cities,” he said. “On the side of the city that I come from, which is Blacker and poorer, we’ve seen more in terms of gun usage. I got a lot of attention when I did the eulogy for George Floyd’s funeral, but I also, a month later, preached a 1-year-old kid’s funeral in Brooklyn who was killed by a stray bullet.”

“Six people were shot over Labor Day weekend at a festivity in Brooklyn, so I would say statistically we’re not much higher than where we were, but on the ground it is certainly feeling more violent, feeling more unsafe in unsafe communities,” Sharpton continued.

Asked by host Joe Scarborough about the moves to defund the police in various cities following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Sharpton tore apart the idea, chalking it up as something only appealing to “latte liberals” discussing an “academic” issue.

“To take all policing off is something a latte liberal may go for as they sit around the Hamptons discussing this as an academic problem. But people living on the ground need proper policing,” he said.

New York City itself has been partially affected by the “defund the police” movement, with the city council announcing in July that $1 billion would be cut from the police department’s spending budget and allocated to different community programs. The number was far less than some protesters called for, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York).

“Defunding police means defunding police,” the congresswoman said at the time. “It does not mean budget tricks or funny math.”

New York City has seen a surge in shootings this year, with the city pushing past 1,000 before the Labor Day weekend even began. There have been nearly 800 shootings since May, which is a roughly 140 percent increase over the same time period the year before.

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