Rep. Cammack on Democrats’ police reform bill: ‘It’s just backdoor attempt to defund the police’
Florida GOP Rep. Kat Cammack, whose husband is a veteran first responder, sounds the alarm on Democrats’ reform bill on ‘Fox & Friends’
A new Democratic police reform bill would effectively defund police officers and deprive them of life-saving equipment, Florida GOP Rep. Kat Cammack said on Friday, after her speech slamming the Democrats' George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
"When you talk about this so-called reform bill that the Democrats call it, it's just a call to defund police. And what so few people across the country know is that this vest and so many other pieces of critical life-saving equipment come from the 1033 program, which gets labeled as a militarization of our department," Cammack told "Fox & Friends."
Cammack’s husband Matt is a 14-year department veteran of local first responders in Gainesville. He is a firefighter and medic.
"And you actually see behind me right here, this is his other SWAT vest because he is a SWAT medic, not just for the sheriff's office, but also for Gainesville Police Department, in addition to being a firefighter. He truly is a public servant," Cammack said.
Cammack on Wednesday criticized Democrats' George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, or H.R. 1280.
The legislation would overhaul standards for police tactics and conduct at the federal level, including a federal ban on no-knock warrants and chokeholds, limits on qualified immunity shielding police from civil lawsuits, a framework to prevent racial profiling, and the establishment of a national registry on allegations of police misconduct.
"This bill was named after a man who was murdered by a police officer," Cammack began. "The officer responsible should have never been allowed to don a badge and act on behalf of the agency sworn to protect its citizens ... As a member of the first responder family, I can say definitively on behalf of our officers, that there is absolutely nothing ... that a good cop hates more than a bad cop."
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Cammack blasted the notion that a SWAT vest is "militarized equipment," saying it was "lifesaving" for rural departments.
"Why are we pushing a bill that does that, meaning taking this kind of equipment off of my husband's back and so many others when there is real reforms that we can make to make our police departments better and stronger, more responsive?" Cammack said.
Cammack concluded that "this is just a backdoor attempt to defund the police."
"I'm terrified for my husband's life as well as the lives of so many men and women in uniform across this country," she said. "They have been under attack for so long. We have got to have their six now more than ever. And that is why I just felt so compelled to get on the House floor and speak out."
Fox News' Audrey Conklin contributed to this report.
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