'Radical' move to defund police creating havoc: Sen. Loeffler
Senator Kelly Loeffler discusses why 'chaos' has erupted on the streets of Atlanta amid calls to defund police
“The radical movement to defund the police is creating havoc for the safety of our communities,” Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., told “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday.
Loeffler made the comment one day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency following an uptick in shootings over the July Fourth weekend that injured 31 people and killed five, including an 8-year-old girl, after weeks of violent crime and property destruction in Atlanta.
"Peaceful protests were hijacked by criminals with a dangerous, destructive agenda. Now, innocent Georgians are being targeted, shot, and left for dead," Kemp said in a statement. "This lawlessness must be stopped and order restored in our capital city.”
“We’re seeing the breakdown of public safety in our communities and Georgians are very concerned and that's why the governor had to take this decisive action to bring in the National Guard and restore order because it's true, enough is enough,” Loeffler said.
“The time has come to strengthen our support for law enforcement an end this terrible experiment.”
Among those killed over the holiday weekend was Secoriea Turner, 8, who was riding in a car Saturday night in Atlanta when at least two people opened fire on the vehicle. The shooting happened near the Wendy's fast-food restaurant where Rayshard Brooks was killed by a police officer last month, prompting weeks of protests and clashes between demonstrators and police.
“This is tragic and my heart breaks for Secoriea Turner and her family,” Loeffler said. “This was a needless active murder that could've been prevented.”
“It’s what I’ve been warning about for weeks,” she continued.
She went on to say that “the radical movement to defund the police” is causing “havoc” and “resulted in the death of a child.”
“I've been calling for an end to this senseless violence and I was criticized because I'm a conservative,” Loeffler said. “But look what’s happened, a child has died and the governor has rightly shown decisive leadership and brought in the National Guard to regain order.”
“We need to stop the violence now,” she added.
SENATE REPUBLICANS' POLICE REFORM BILL FAILS ON TEST VOTE AMID DEM OPPOSITION
Loeffler noted that she introduced legislation last month that would withhold federal highway funding from states and local governments that reduce funding to law enforcement without a clear budgetary need amid the "defund the police" push from some Democrats.
“What we need to be doing right now is giving our strong men and women of law enforcement their ability to do their jobs,” she said.
She also pointed out that she co-sponsored the Justice Act in the Senate “to make sure that we provide [police departments] the resources, that we root out the bad apples, that we get the data to the front lines to understand what's happening.”
“And the Democrats wouldn’t move on it and they are not truly trying to help us reform, they’re actually using it to politicize the defund the police movement,” Loeffler continued. “It’s very dangerous.”
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The Republican-authored police reform bill failed in a Senate test vote last month after Democrats opposed the bill on the basis it did not go far enough.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.