In a stunning move this weekend —- Austin ‘s City Council has announced that it intends to defund its own police department to the tune of $150m. The announcement almost simultaneously set off a political war in the state of Texas after Republicans vowed everything in their power to stop the stunning act in support of the recent reckoning America now faces.
‘This proposal for the state to takeover the Austin Police Department is one strategy I’m looking at,’ Abbott, a Republican, tweeted from his personal Twitter account Thursday.
‘We can’t let Austin’s defunding & disrespect for law enforcement to endanger the public & invite chaos like in Portland and Seattle.’
The move comes on the heels of both Seattle and Portland doing the same as dozens of other cities are expected to follow. The move also opens up hundreds of millions of dollars to other city services around the U.S that could dramatically change communities forever.