Wisconsin Senate Democrat candidate Mandela Barnes denounced U.S. policing policies on Russia Today (RT), a state-run propaganda channel in 2015 and 2016.
In 2015, Barnes gave several interviews as a Wisconsin state lawmaker to RT about the “total epidemic” of alleged police brutality, Daniel Bice reported from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Thursday. In 2016, he told the Kremlin-backed network that “police officers across the country haven’t reformed their patterns and practices” and that “police officers are over-exercising their badges.”
The report continued:
Barnes then thanked RT on Twitter for interviewing him. RT labels itself “Russia state-affiliated media” on its Twitter homepage.
In September 2016, Barnes said that Black Lives Matter protests that turn violent are a “human reaction” to the police. In that same interview, he says that if police officers are Black, it “doesn’t mean they are 100% behind the community.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department said RT and another Russian-funded outlet are “critical elements in Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem.”
Barnes’ opponent, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), ripped Barnes for trashing American law enforcement on Russian state television.
“Trashing American law enforcement on Russian state TV and allowing himself to be used by Vladamir Putin’s propagandists is as bad as it gets,” Alec Zimmerman, communications director for Johnson said in a statement.
“Lt. Governor Barnes knew he was being used as a puppet for a foreign dictator in a Russian disinformation scheme and he should apologize to law enforcement in Wisconsin and across America. Mandela Barnes isn’t fit to represent anyone in the United States Senate,” he added.
Barnes is one of the most radical candidates in the 2022 cycle. He has advocated for allowing felons to retain the right to vote. He also claimed police do not prevent crimes and pushed for defunding them. According to Wisconsin Right Now, Barnes has allowed at least 884 convicted criminals back onto the streets by releasing them on parole.
When asked in 2018 if he thought the inmate population could be cut in half, Barnes replied, “Absolutely! That’s something that happens over time.”
Barnes will have to defend his comments and interviews with Russian state media in Thursday evening’s debate at 7 PM EST.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.