Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors said that President Joe Biden and other leading Democrats were cowards for refusing to defund police.
Cullors shared the condemning remarks in a recent interview with The Guardian.
BLM founder calls out Biden, Buttigieg and officials for refusing to defund police: ‘Deep cowardice’ https://t.co/gd2yzOjQGS
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 6, 2023
"[T]he people who hold the power have chosen not to wield it on behalf of Black life," she argued.
This movement was able to help get Joe Biden into office," Cullors said, "and yet in his first State of the Union address, he yelled: ‘Fund the police.’"
Cullors also claimed, "Our elected officials have decided to abandon a movement that could have saved the lives of the people who have died."
In conversation with Patrice Cullors, “REVOLT BLACK NEWS” goes inside her cousin Keenan Anderson’s case who she claims was killed by LAPD.https://t.co/Bwk1ra10VL
— REVOLT (@revolttv) January 27, 2023
Cullors has also recently sounded off about her cousin Keenan Anderson who she says died after an interaction with the LAPD.
Her story has received special attention recently following the release of body cam footage of Tyre Nichols being beaten by five Memphis police officers and later dying from the injuries.
The five officers have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
BLM called out for receiving millions, not helping Black Americans: 'Black Lives don't matter' https://t.co/8t2KAsu18G
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 7, 2023
The Black Lives Matter organization, however, has also been accused of raising millions of dollars yet doing little to help black Americans.
"Cullors has come under fire for allegedly misusing millions of dollars in donations to spend on multi-million dollar properties. She has denied the allegations saying her income came from other sources and not a company salary," Fox News recently reported.
The controversy over defunding the police was a hot issue during the 2022 midterm elections. Many Democrats who had pushed for defunding police budgets had a change of heart after soaring crime and polls showed that even most Democratic voters supported the police.
After Biden's State of the Union address in 2022, most Democrats remained quiet on the issue, though some progressives such as Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) continued to push the defunding the police movement.
The latest comments by Cullors could be important, however, as Biden faces a new election cycle that will include a strong focus on crime in America during his tenure and how to respond.