Detroit Chief: Rep. Tlaib's Tweets About Police 'Disgusting'

DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan congresswoman said the fatal shooting of a young Black man by police near Minneapolis wasn't an accident and is proof of racism, a claim that Detroit's police chief dismissed as a "disgusting knee-jerk response."

"This was a tragic incident, and it should've never happened," said Chief James Craig, who is Black. "But when these tragedies happen, you shouldn't just broad-brush the entire profession."

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Detroit Democrat, expressed her thoughts on Twitter about the shooting of Daunte Wright, 20, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Police said a white officer mistakenly fired her gun instead of a Taser Sunday.

"It wasn't an accident," Tlaib wrote. "Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. Daunte Wright was met with aggression & violence. I am done with those who condone government-funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed."

Craig said Tlaib's tweets were a "disgusting knee-jerk response." Detroit's population is about 80% Black.

"To say policing should be abolished gives no consideration to the people who live in our neighborhoods who rely on police to provide service," Craig told The Detroit News. "What happens to those folks? What about the victims?

"The people who live in our city don't want to abolish the police, so the million-dollar question is: Who does (Tlaib) represent?" he said.