MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2020) The Trump administration will never defund the police, in spite of the demands of Black Lives Matters protesters over recent weeks, US Vice President Mike Pence said at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Pence praised Trump for sending in the National Guard to quell the protests and violence that swept through the US in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis on May 25.
"In the days that followed, you saw it, we quelled the violence and since then we've been working with law enforcement and leaders in our African-American community to improve public safety and improve the lives of our African-American neighbors ... And we'll find ways to move forward together, but one thing we're not going to do, we're not going to defund the police. Not now, not ever," Pence said.
President Trump is holding a pre-election rally in the city of Tulsa, his first since March, when the COVID-19 lockdown began.
Black Lives Matter protesters have called for the police to be defunded in the wake of Floyd's death in the custody of law enforcement officers. Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, was filmed kneeling on the neck of Floyd while the latter was arrested and lying on his front.
