Cori Bush Defends Hiring Private Security, Says ‘We Need to Defund the Police’

During an interview with CBS on Wednesday, Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) defended spending thousands of dollars on private security and called for defunding the police.

Bush responded to criticism of pushing for defunding the police while spending money on private security by asking if her critics “would rather I die? You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die? Because that could be the alternative. So, either I spend $70,000 on private security over the last few months and I’m here standing now and able to speak, able to help save eleven million people from being evicted, or I could possibly have a death attempt on my life. And we’re also talking about the same exact people who say horrible things about me, who lie to get — to build up their base, and then because they lie about me, I receive death threats.”

She added, “I’m going to make sure I have security. Because I know I have had attempts on my life, and I have too much work to do. There are too many people that need help right now for me to allow that. So, if I end up spending 200,000, if I spend ten more dollars on it, you know what, I get to be here to do the work. So, suck it up. And defunding the police has to happen. We need to defund the police and put that money into social safety nets. Because we’re trying to save lives.”

Bush further stated that “actual police officers” have threatened her life and that her security is “not against communal violence. My security is not to keep me safe from the people of St. Louis.”

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