Minneapolis business owner on city’s crime spike: We don’t feel safe, need protection
Flora’s Hair Design salon was burned to the ground during the Minneapolis unrest; Flora Westbrooks reacts to the Minneapolis City Council cutting millions from the police department.
The owner of a Minneapolis hair salon that was burned down during riots over the death of George Floyd denounced Friday the newly approved plan by city leaders to slash the police budget.
The Minneapolis City Council passed a budget Thursday that will cut its police funding by $8 million and use the money for mental health and violence prevention programs.
"We need police. ... We need protection,” Flora Westbrooks, the owner of Flora's Hair Designs, told “Fox & Friends," noting that people feel less safe amid a surge in crime over the past year.
SIX MONTHS AFTER GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH, MINNEAPOLIS REELING FROM RISE IN VIOLENCE
Westbrooks owned the salon for about four decades before her business was “burned to the ground due to civil unrest” in Minneapolis on May 29, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help her rebuild it.
Minneapolis experienced widespread protests against racism and police brutality -- which often turned into riots -- that were sparked after George Floyd, a Black man, died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
Westbrooks previously told Fox News that local and state officials had failed to help her rebuild her business and she was faced with a $200,000 bill just to tear down the building and put a fence around it.
Westbrooks said police “never showed up” and she “didn't see any police at all patrol my area” the night her business was burned down. The hair salon, located in north Minneapolis, was burned down three days before it was scheduled to reopen after being closed for months due to coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
The new plan for the shifting of police funding, called "Safety for All," follows the city council's stalled attempt to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department earlier this year.
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"The City Council adopted a 2021 budget!!" Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender tweeted early Thursday. "All the #SafetyForAllBudget proposals passed for 2021. Mental health, violence prevention, oversight and more."
Westbrooks said she's not sure how many people in the city agree with the "defund police" movement pushed by the far left, but added that "everyone that I talk to are afraid right now." She said she has still received no help from the city to rebuild her salon.
Fox News' Talia Kaplan and Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
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