Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, has a message: Don’t defund the police.
Mrs. Fulton says:
“I think we need more police,” Sybrina Fulton said, according to the Daily Caller. “We need police with better standards, and police with better ethics and better work habits.”
“I want residents to feel safe,” she told the Guardian. “I want to bridge the gap between the law enforcement and the community.”
Fulton, who has announced that she is running for Miami Dade County Commissioner, District 1, has ample knowledge of the peril of amateur policing, which is what we undoubtedly will see if police forces are drastically downsized or outright eliminated.
Fulton’s son Trayvon was shot and killed by a community watch volunteer in 2012. George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman came across (to me) as a bumbling, over enthusiastic amateur cop, precisely the kind of guy you might not want to have a gun and to be your main protector.
If the police are defunded or rendered ineffective, there will be lots of George Zimmermans trying to fill the void. I should note that we saw the police often reduced to standing helplessly by and watching the destruction of property during the riots. Police powerlessness is not a pretty sight.
Sybrina Fulton, by the way, has not become a conservative. She is a full-time activist against police brutality. You can see her posing here with the Reverend Al Sharpton and other mothers protesting against police brutality. Her candidacy is endorsed by Hillary Clinton.
But Fulton knows that without a police force members of minority communities will suffer most. Bravo for her for speaking out.