Billionaire John Arnold’s Group Is Backing “Defund the Police”

LThe controversial has been supported by eft wing advocacy groups “defund” Police Movement has received tens to millions of dollars A billionaire from Texas who supports efforts to reform the United States Criminal justice system records.

John Arnold, a former Enron executive has emerged as a significant donor to organizations that support policies such as cashless jail. Republicans Arguments can lead to crime spikes. According to records reviewed and analyzed by the The, Arnold Ventures, a billionaire who has limited liability corporation Arnold Ventures, has contributed $17.2 Million to four organizations. Washington Examiner.

TEXAS BILLIONAIRE, JOHN ARNOLD BANKROLLS EFFORTS OVERHAUL INDIANA’S JUSTICE SYSTEM

“Arnold Ventures opposes calls to defund the police,” The spokesperson for the LLC said that the Washington Examiner. “We are guided by the objective of improving public safety. Research shows that law enforcement can be effective at reducing violent crime and plays an integral role in ensuring community safety.”

Arnold’s contributions over the years through his LLC have remained relatively hidden, despite other major Philanthropists such as George Soros This has attracted a lot of attention from media outlets. Arnold Ventures doesn’t legally have to disclose which entities it grants grants, but the LLC claims on its website it has given criminal justice grants in excess of $100 million since 2015.

The Washington Examiner It was revealed in January that AV is currently bankrolled Indiana’s left-leaning criminal justice policies “racial justice” Research, according to experts, could cause harm to public safety if applied.

“We support fair and effective policing, which is policing that is accountable to communities and helps advance community safety,” The AV spokesperson also added. “We have partnered with law enforcement departments across the country in support of research on effective policing practices.”

After the assassination of George Floyd In May 2020, progressive groups launched comprehensive initiatives to defund police. Cities Minneapolis, Minnesota, has approved policies to divert funding from law enforcement funds to other entities and projects. However, not all have. Backpedaled It has been dramatic how violent crime spread after and during the social justice protests of 2020.

Worth Rises is one organization that AV has funded. dedicated To “dismantling the prison industry.” Worth Rises is a New York-based non-profit group that will be celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2021 Received $75,000 from AV “general support,” Major proponent of defunding the police.

“Yes, more than ever,” Bianca Tylek is the executive director at Worth Rises. Washington Examiner When asked if they still support the movement, the group replied “Yes.”

Worth Rises So called To “dismantle” Police officers urged state legislatures not to cut budgets. Tylek, Harvard 2016 Law School graduate, was once an equal justice works fellow at Brennan Center for Justice. This liberal social justice group is heavily funded by Soros.

“Yes, we must #DefundPolice,” Tweeted Worth Rises in June 2020 “We cannot reform a system designed to brutalize and exploit Black people. We must dismantle it. We do that by removing its financial power. It’s time we unpack how police and prisons are funded.”

Civil Rights Corps, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., aiming to confront “systemic injustice” and the purported “white supremacy and economic inequality” of the legal system, received $1 million from AV between 2020 and 2022, records show. The group has taken aim at the bail system and litigates on issues related to it.

In 2021, Civil Rights Corps published a memo that listed several reasons why defunding the police is allegedly a good policy. These included claims that black children would live longer, that people would be more “free,” and that the U.S. would benefit from a “punishment” divestment.

Credit/Civil Rights Corps

“The idea that police protect communities from violent crime is a myth,” tweeted Civil Rights Corps in March 2022. “They disrupt, target, and often inflict violence on black and brown communities. Police don’t promote safety, they commit the violent crime they claim to protect us from.”

“Abolition of #police and systems is not just about introducing legislation in the names of victims and giving police more money & training — it’s about dismantling the system and creating a new system of ‘public safety,'” the group added.

Forward Justice, a North Carolina nonprofit group “dedicated to advancing racial, social, and economic justice in the U.S. South,” received $325,000 from AV in 2020 to “end the practice in North Carolina of funding criminal-support systems through harmful and unjust legal fines and fees,” records show.

The group issued a “statement of solidarity in 2020 that called to “dismantle the systems of racism and oppression that have gripped this nation for centuries.”

“We must defund and demilitarize the police, end qualified immunity for killer cops, create community accountability and review boards with subpoena power, and invest in the brilliance of our communities to begin the institutional reckoning that must take place to create a fair and equitable criminal legal system,” the statement read.

Another group that has supported defunding the police while taking cash from AV is the Vera Institute of Justice, a left-leaning research and policy hub. AV has granted over $15.8 million to the institute between 2016 and 2022 for issues related to bail reform and prosecutor research, as well as prison pilot programs.

In June 2020, the institute published an article called “Protecting Black Lives: The Crisis of American Policing,” noting it is “committed to dismantling the current culture of policing and working toward solutions that defund police and shift power to communities.”

“We’re building on this unique moment of public awareness, outrage, and calls to defund the police.”

Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, a conservative investigative think tank, said it’s “sad” to see how John Arnold has continued to overlap in his donations with the likes of Soros and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

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“Oddly, as he moves leftward, Arnold has taken to whining when anyone points out what he’s doing,” he told the Washington Examiner.

Civil Rights Corps, the Vera Institute of Justice, and Forward Justice did not reply to requests for comment.