Tonight, community members from all across Minneapolis called in to raise their voices to the City Council and demand that they act on their word and pass a budget that prioritizes community over police. We have some parts to share here.

Almost all of the testifiers spoke in favor of a $45 million divestment from MPD, and stated they are clear that MPD doesn’t keep us safe.

“MPD instills fear in my community,” said one resident. “MPD does not make me feel safe - my community leaders do.”

Residents talked of how they’ve seen neighbors keeping each other safe, both over the last month and over the long term past. Testifiers lifted up workers and the housing crisis.

One resident until recently favored police reform, and said: “The people calling for an end to police aren’t reactionaries ready to burn down the world. They are visionaries ready to make something better.”

This city is already visioning toward something better.

Speakers highlighted the cuts Mayor Frey wants to make to protect MPD’s $193 million budget. They were clear that the budget revision could instead protect and fund resources that promote community health and well-being.

“Budgets tell a story,” said one caller, “and [this budget] is telling Minneapolis residents that funding police terror is more important than housing our neighbors.”

“The City of Minneapolis needs to invest in our communities, not in our police,” said Valentina McKenzie of @CTUL_TC. “If you continue to invest in police you are saying to the workers who have fought for labor laws over the last few years that it does not matter.”

An immigration attorney spoke about a 25k cut toward services that prevent family separation and deportation, and reduce trauma from unjust deportations.

We know that many callers were unable to share their testimony due to technical difficulties. If you were one of those, we encourage you to email a written version of your comment to [email protected]

We must keep sharing our vision and our demands with Minneapolis officials. Join us tomorrow at 5pm to tell the Charter Commission to #ChangeTheCharter, and next week for the second hearing on the city budget. Sign up here to testify: https://bit.ly/LiveComment