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Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships of the far-left criminal justice reform group, Vera Institute of Justice, caused an uproar on social media after she told Democrats on Monday that migrant crime and carjackings “don’t matter to that many Americans.”
During a political strategy session about crime and safety at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rahman urged Democrats to seize on President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown, calling it a “political liability.”
“Trump is not about safety,” Rahman said. “This is a political power grab, and he will do it however he can, whether that’s at the ballot box or taking over our cities.”
While Rahman focused her remarks on how Democrats can reject Republicans’ “tough on crime scare tactics,” the Vera Institute, where the Democratic strategist serves as a senior official, has a long record of supporting defunding the police.
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“We must dismantle the current culture of policing in the United States,” the Vera Institute said in a 2020 statement during the anti-police protests that erupted across the country after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a White police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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The liberal criminal justice think tank went on to affirm their support for “the outrage we’re seeing,” and announced they were “building on this unique moment of public awareness, outrage, and calls to defund the police.”
Fox News Digital has covered the Vera Institute for years, including its ties to former President Joe Biden’s Justice Department and billionaire liberal megadonor George Soros.
The Vera Institute has advocated for defunding the police and has openly stated their mission is to demolish a “racist” criminal justice system.
Fox News Digital discovered in 2022 that the non-profit secured a staggering $171.7 million federal contract to provide legal assistance to unaccompanied minors, according to a federal database.
“Don’t take the bait in talking about migrant crime or carjackings or the things that actually don’t matter to that many Americans, and then go to the policy proposals that we think work,” Rahman instructed Democrats on Monday.
This clip went viral Monday afternoon with conservatives slamming Rahman for her rhetoric and pointing out her organization’s ties to the Defund the Police movement.
“Who has given money to the George Soros-tied Vera Institute?” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X. “The Biden DOJ, the Open Society Foundations, Rockefeller, Tides, the Ford Foundation and MacKenzie Scott. Vera Institute in turn supports BLM and numerous left wing causes. FOLLOW THE MONEY!”
“This Democrat Speaker is a member of the Vera Institute of Justice which advocates for defunding the police,” the Republican National Committee’s research account posted on X.
“She makes over $300k in salary according to last year’s tax filings, and the Vera Institute brought in around $140 million in revenue,” the Project for Immigration Reform posted on X.
Trump last week floated the deployment of federal law enforcement to address major U.S. cities, including Chicago, after mobilizing more than 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., to fight a “crime emergency.”
The president signed an executive order on Monday, seeking to eliminate cashless bail for suspects arrested in the nation’s capital.
Rahman said Democrats should respond by saying, “They want money and privilege and to give a handout to the bail bondsman while we want to make sure safety, not wealth, determines who stays in jail and who goes home to their families.”
She also advised Democrats not to let Trump “take credit” for crime going down.
“It’s going down in spite of him and because of Democratic leadership like mine. That is the phrase you want to use. Don’t be afraid of the crime debate. Lean all the way in. Call out what Trump is doing and say, ‘The reason crime is going down, our communities are becoming safer, is because of us,'” Rahman said.
Regarding questions about defunding the police, Rahman said Democrats should “call out the scare tactics.”
“I’m not about scare tactics or slogans,” she said Democrats should tell their Republican opponents. “I’m not afraid to have an honest conversation.”
“We keep expecting police to solve every social problem. No one profession can do that. We’re spending too much and putting too much burden on them. It’s time to pry out some promising new solutions to lift the burden. It’s time for support and change, not blame,” she added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the DNC and Vera but did not immediately receive a response.
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