New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, have all been labeled “anarchist jurisdictions” by the Justice Department.
On Sunday, the Justice Department made the classification, which means the cities are set to lose federal money for failing to control protestors and pledging to defund the police, according to the New York Post.
“When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” Attorney General Bill Barr said in a statement.
“We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance,’’ he added. “It is my hope that the cities identified by the Department of Justice today will reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.”
It is unclear which funds will be cut, but New York City currently gets about $7 billion in annual federal funding.
This comes after Donald Trump issued a memo earlier this month against cities that have taken action to defund the police by cutting law enforcement budgets. New York City approved cutting $1 billion from the NYPD’s $6 billion budget.
Portland made the list after over 100 nights of protests in the city. The Portland City Council also voted to cut the police department budget by $15 million in June.
Also, part of the reasoning for labeling these cities “anarchists” was that some district attorneys refused to prosecute protestors arrested during demonstrations against police brutality.
