Bush's campaign spent over $65,000 on private security during the fourth financial quarter and roughly $200,000 total in 2021 on private security firms such as Peace Security and Whole Armor Executive Protection, eclipsing the totals for the other "Squad" members' private security bills for 2021.
The Missouri Democrat, who was sworn into office just over one year ago, has remained a staunch supporter of defunding the police and she even told CBS News last August that "defunding the police has to happen" and that the money needs to be put into "social safety nets because we're trying to save lives." When asked by CBS about the hypocrisy of spending tens of thousands of dollars on private security while calling for defending the police, Bush became noticeably defensive and responded, "You would rather me die? Is that what you want to see? You want to see me die?"
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While Bush by far spent the most money on private security in 2021 compared to her fellow "Squad" Democrats, a few of the others still spent tens of thousands of dollars. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., spent approximately $9,800 during the fourth quarter and slightly short of $75,000 total in 2021, making her the second-biggest spender in the "Squad" for private security.
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"Defunding police means defunding police," Ocasio-Cortez said in late June 2020 – about a month after George Floyd's killing by police. "It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools."
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Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who supported dismantling the Minneapolis Police Department and deemed it "rotten to the root," spent over $30,000 on private security in 2021. In a June 2020 tweet, Omar defended the defund the police movement and asserted it was about "re-imagining the current police system to build an entity that does not violate us."
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Others pro-defund the police "Squad" Democrats who doled out money for private security include Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who spent around $14,000 in 2021, Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who spent $7,872 in 2021, as well as Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who spent just south of $3,000 in 2021.