Chuck Schumer Slams Trump's Cuts To 'The Very Unit' That Targets Lone Wolf Extremists Prior To MN Attacks

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the Trump administration's cuts to the DHS' CP3 center.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, first about safety in the Capitol and our meeting today that

00:05Senator Thune and I called. First, I'd like to say that the Capitol Police have

00:10always been the silent heroes behind the scenes keeping members safe. That's no

00:16secret. The country saw that for themselves on January 6th and in the

00:20footage after. And they're doing a good job. We had a very good meeting where

00:26members brought up their concerns and efforts, strong efforts are going to be

00:30made to answer those concerns with an expanded, expanded activity by the

00:36Capitol Police. But after the awful situation this weekend, there's real

00:42concern not just here in the Capitol but with folks across the country about the

00:48safety of elected officials. These violent acts are an attack not just on the

00:54individuals who are targeted, but on our democracy itself. Public servants should

01:01never have to fear for their lives simply for doing their job. Public servants, there

01:07should not be an attempt to intimidate public servants not to do their job or

01:10not to take their job. So we need immediate steps. We need to take immediate

01:16steps to ensure the safety of members. That includes sending additional funding

01:21resources to the Capitol Police. And there was agreement today in the Senate among

01:28Democrats and Republicans that we ought to be spending some more dollars here to

01:33protect the Capitol, the Senators, and their staffs. But it's amazing. Instead, the Trump

01:41administration is doing the exact opposite. USA Today reported that as lone actor attacks are on the rise,

01:50Donald Trump had cut the program called aimed at spotting them. This program is aimed to spot lone actor

02:01violence, violent domestic extremists. Exactly what happened in Minnesota. But the day before a violent

02:11political attack in Minnesota occurred, the last top officials at a program that aims to spot the

02:17so-called lone actor violent domestic extremists, were reassigned to other roles.

02:24And that's USA's reporting. In the four months since Trump took office, his administration has shrunk the

02:31Department of Homeland Security Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, it's known as CP3,

02:39from dozens of analysts and supervisors. Now it has fewer than 10 people,

02:43led by a 22-year-old recent graduate with no law enforcement experience. Here we have more violent

02:50attacks, and at the same time the Trump administration is cutting the very unit in law enforcement that's

02:57supposed to go after these lone wolf violent attacks and prevent them. Right now we need to give law

03:04enforcement more resources to prevent these horrific attacks, not less. A program in charge of doing these

03:11things shouldn't have fewer than 10 people and be led by a 22-year-old with no experience.

03:19And what I'm saying here, that this program has been cut dramatically, the aimed program,

03:28will reverberate among everybody who wants a safer America and should reverberate among all elected

03:36officials, Democrat and Republican, about the need to keep these programs. So we need to give more resources

03:46to law enforcement. But let me be clear, this dangerous environment isn't spontaneous. It's being stoked,

03:54often deliberately, by the reckless rhetoric coming from some of the most powerful voices in the

03:59country. When political opponents are treated like enemies, danger follows. And that's what Donald Trump

04:07has done. He's weaponized the Justice Department and law enforcement into going after his political enemies

04:16instead of going after criminals. And it's the responsibility of all leaders, especially the

04:24president of the United States. To not just unequivocally condemn hatred, but to stop violent and aggressive

04:32language against political opponents. Trump has to see that his words have real impact and consequences.

04:39And here's one way he could start right now. He could demand of Senator Lee that he take down his

04:48his inflammatory, despicable posts about the deaths of the two people in Minnesota. They're gross. They're

05:01disgusting. They're the kind of thing that just riles people up. Let Trump call Lee up and say,

05:09take them down, take them down, take those posts down. That'll be a start. But in general, he has to stop

05:20treating his political opponents as enemies, because danger will always follow.

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