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Tyler Perry: Don’t Defund Police. We Need More Cops, Especially By My Studio

Tyler Perry: Don’t Defund Police. We Need More Cops, Especially By My Studio

Perry
Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry says on CNN with Anderson Cooper: Don’t defund the police. We need more cops, especially by my studio. Photo: In this Feb. 24, 2019 file photo, Tyler Perry arrives at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

Don’t count filmmaker Tyler Perry among the defund-the-police activists. The Atlanta-based entertainment mogul recently slammed the movement, saying he thinks there is a need for more police and that he believes the protests against George Floyd’s death are being hijacked.

Perry talked about his thoughts on defunding the police during an interview on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360”, MEA WorldWide reported. 

“When I first heard it, I was troubled by it, and I thought OK, this is — this is going to be weaponized by — in this political year,” Perry said. “I completely thought that that was happening. That’s exactly what’s happened. It’s been weaponized. But I did some research. And what I would challenge people to do is do research and find out what it means. Now, you’ve got to understand this — I’m not for taking money from the police department. I think we need more police. My studio is in a neighborhood where I think we need police.” 

Perry went on to explain his view, saying, “we don’t need police that are undertrained.” He added that he has close friends who are police officers and are good people. Perry said that his cop friends have been “very, very” hurt by the ongoing demands for defunding the police and that he will always stand up against whatever he deems wrong.

“I’ve been very, very concerned that the message is being hijacked by some other groups or political ads and parties,” Perry told Cooper.

“So when they saw George Floyd’s death, this horrific, horrible death played out as this man pleaded for his life and begged and said ‘please’ many, many times, it — seeing it changes everything. So I became very, very optimistic when everybody galvanized together because I know that’s when change comes. When people galvanize and come together as one, that’s when change happens.”

However, Perry pointed out something wrong with the picture.

“Here’s what I want you to understand, Anderson, wrong — where there is wrong, I’m going to stand up against it,” Perry said. “When Rayshard Brooks was murdered, I thought that was wrong. When George — George Floyd was murdered, I thought that was wrong, like so many other people. But when a police officer who was white in a suburb in Atlanta was shot in the head by a shoplifter, I thought that was wrong, too, and I reached out to do what I can to help his family.”

Twitter reacted fast to Perry’s remarks.

“When a white man shoots up a church filled with elderly people and flees the police handle his arrest perfectly.When a black man is selling loosies on street corner the cops flip their shit. Make it make sense”, iDefund@DukeAmericanman tweeted.

“I respect Cooper’s reporting and Perry’s genius but to imply that deaths caused solely by not complying at the hands of police is the arrestees fault is grossly one sided”, Pennybird @rose@Pennybirdrosez1 tweeted.

The Violent Blonde@wsuksuckradio also disagreed with Perry. “Oh my God. Don’t be afraid of police but just be aware that they can end your life at any time so just comply with your personalized suffocation,” she tweeted.

Lost in Dixie tweeted, “A rich person that wants more cops. Color me shocked.”

MARK SHIELDS@ARTESIA13 showed little faith in police reform, tweeting, “Slave catchers in modern times”

Perry isn’t alone in being opposed to defunding the police. A majority of American poll respondents — 42 percent — say that spending on their local police should stay about the same as it currently is, and 31 percent say that spending should be increased, according to a new Pew poll.

Just a quarter of respondents said spending on policing in their community should be decreased.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.

Perry openly praised the mass protests following the police killing of Floyd and has said he believes in the need for police reform but he has become leery of the latest protest developments, Mediate reported. 

“But, lately, I’ve been very, very concerned that the message is being hijacked by some other groups or political ads and parties that are trying to stop the message of what we’re asking for here as police reform, right?” Perry continued. “So, yeah, I was, but I’m worried now because of what I’m seeing.”