Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) finds calls to abolish the police “asinine and uneducated,” she told Breitbart News during an interview at a “Back the Blue” bike tour stop members of Congress made Thursday in honor of National Police Week.
Cammack, a freshman congresswoman whose husband is a firefighter and SWAT medic, spoke at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC, on Thursday morning as part of the event, where she remarked on her husband’s job and challenged Democrats to go for an “educational ride-along” to better understand police officers’ day-to-day experiences.
“I’d like to talk to you today not as a member of Congress but as the wife of a first responder,” Cammack began. “Right now, my husband’s on his way to work. He’s headed to a SWAT callout. He’s on his way to a SWAT callout, and this is just a normal everyday for us, but the feeling in the pit of my stomach never changes.”
Watch:
Cammack continued:
To the families of the first responders of our LEOs [law enforcement officers] that are having very uncomfortable, scary conversations at the dinner table, thank you. I know that those conversations are not getting any easier. I know because I’ve had them. To my colleagues who stand here today, thank you, thank you for having the backs of our LEOs and their families. To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have been calling for the defunding of our men and women in uniform, please consider joining us for an educational ride-along. I think it would be very illuminating. Thank you to all the communities against the push for taking the critical lifesaving equipment off the backs of our men and women despite tremendous pressure in the media, from local and national leaders, thank you. To the families of all those that have a name on the wall behind us, please know that there is an army, a thin blue line army behind you who thinks of you every single day, and for every man and woman who has given their life in the line of duty, please rest easy, and know that we’ve got the watch. Thank you.
Cammack recently gained attention for speaking on the House floor in opposition to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a partisan and comprehensive police overhaul legislation that passed the House with no Republican support in March and now awaits the attention of the Senate.
The Florida Republican presented her husband’s SWAT vest during her speech, saying her husband wore it while on a “massive manhunt” for an individual “who raped and killed his girlfriend,” arguing the bill would take away certain military-grade equipment like the vest.
Cammack on Thursday disavowed calls to “defund the police” or “abolish the police,” rallying cries of leftists that have persisted since last year after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
“It’s unconscionable, the thought that we would abolish police in our communities,” she told Breitbart News. “I’m sorry, but for those men and women who are rolling up on murder scenes or gang shootings or domestic violence disputes, people are calling police for a reason. They’re not calling social workers, and for anyone who’s calling for the abolishment of police, I would say, how about next time you have a life-threatening issue, instead of calling 911, why don’t you either look to yourself or call a social worker as they have encouraged people to do.”
The bike tour event was hosted by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and included National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund CEO Marcia Ferranto and Capitol Police Acting Assistant Chief Sean Gallagher, as well as other members of Congress.
Write to Ashley Oliver at aoliver@breitbart.com.
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