Celebrated evangelical pastor Franklin Graham has slammed the leftwing movement to defund law enforcement as a recipe for anarchy.
“George Floyd’s tragic death has sparked a new pandemic of fear,” Rev. Graham wrote on Twitter Monday. “Some Democrats are saying the solution is to defund or dismantle police departments. This has to be one of the most irresponsible ideas I’ve ever heard. This would lead to more anarchy.”
“We’re a nation of laws, & laws need to be enforced,” he added in a separate post. “There’s never a time or a place for police brutality or discrimination—this has to be stopped. But now many good police officers are considering resigning or retiring early due to the treatment they’re receiving.”
“We need to pray for our law enforcement & encourage them,” he said. “The Bible says, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers…’ This is the calling many of them have answered with their lives.”
“The police are what stand between us & total anarchy,” he concluded.
Rev. Graham was responding to a Fox News article commenting on a decision by the Minneapolis City Council to disband the police force in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd.
The article cited members of the “left-leaning” city council, composed primarily by Democrats.
“Our commitment is to end our city’s toxic relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department,” said Council President Lisa Bender. “It is clear that our system of policing is not keeping our communities safe. Our efforts at incremental reform have failed, period.”
“This council is going to dismantle the police department,” said Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison, the son of state Attorney General Keith Ellison. “If you don’t stay in this fight I fear that this council or another will just glue it back together.”
Members of the activist group Black Visions went so far as to compare the police system to that of slavery, Fox noted.
The group promised to abolish the police force and “rebuild our city on a different foundation.”
