Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a three-term Democrat, is under fire from law enforcement after accepting the endorsement of Indivisible Philadelphia, a progressive activist group that has supported defunding the police.
“At a time when there were four shootings in four days on our local public transit system, and law enforcement across the Commonwealth is understaffed, Casey’s decision to align himself with these defund the police activists is alarming and extremely dangerous,” said Chris Eiserman, the president of Delaware County Lodge 27, the Fraternal Order of Police chapter in Pennsylvania’s fifth-largest county.
In his press availability, Eiserman said, “Thankfully, Pennsylvania has a law-and-order Senate candidate that will work with the police and not against us: Dave McCormick. Dave McCormick is a combat veteran, who takes threats to Pennsylvanians’ safety seriously.”
McCormick, a businessman and retired paratrooper who served in the Persian Gulf War, has been backed by 47 sheriffs, representing the majority of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Indivisible Philadelphia, a self-described “grassroots organization of volunteers determined to advance a progressive agenda by resisting corruption, authoritarianism, and inequality in our governmental institutions,” threw its weight behind Casey last week.
The organization has repeatedly called for cutting funding for police. “We won’t stop until they #DefundThePolice,” Indivisible Philadelphia posted in June 2020 during the height of the George Floyd riots. Vicki Miller, the head of Indivisible Philadelphia who the Casey campaign quoted in the press release announcing their endorsement and shared an article calling for abolishing police altogether.
