Kallos Denounces Trump’s Response to George Floyd Protests

Council Member Ben Kallos

Yesterday, Councilmember Ben Kallos (D) published an op-ed on Medium, entitled “George Floyd: Trump Must Say ‘Black Lives Matter'”.

The article has him share several of his viewpoints related to the protests, including a call to defund the NYPD and invest in violence prevention and diversion instead. The title, however, relates to a passage near the end of the piece, where he expresses his sorrow and disgust with the way President Donald Trump (R) has responded to the crisis.

“I never thought I would see the day when a President would take up arms against his own people,” Kallos wrote. “This week President Trump used our own military to push back peaceful American protestors in front of Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. Soldiers, mounted state police and Secret Service agents used rubber bullets, riot shields and tear gas to push through a peaceful crowd so that Donald Trump could take a photo in front of St. Johns Church holding a bible. He did not say a prayer, he didn’t even open the bible. There was no mention of Jesus, Christianity, or any Judeo-Christian concepts of morality. As a person of faith, I am deeply offended. We do not need a self-proclaimed “law and order president;” we need a president for all Americans who will join us in saying black lives matter.”

Read the full article here.