Alaska Representative Mary Peltola on Wednesday voted against dismissing an anti-police local ordinance in Washington D.C., drawing criticism from law enforcement and conservative groups.
The House resolution, which passed 229-189, was to disapprove of the D.C. Council’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act, which was enacted on a temporary basis after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.
Only the hardest of the hard left in the House voted against the resolution, including Peltola.
The D.C. Council’s local ordinance had put a target on the backs of police, and by law Congress and the President have the authority to overturn things like that in the District of Columbia, because it is not a state. The House took the first step today.
Peltola, however, backed the extreme Washington D.C. plan that gives more power to anti-police activists and subjects individual police officers to career-ending harassment by protestors who bring specious complaints.
The D.C. measure has provisions that to fast-track the firing of officers for misconduct, prohibit the hiring of officers with prior misconduct, establish civilian oversight of police, and require the release of the names and body-worn camera recordings of officers involved in officer-involved deaths or serious use of force incidents. The D.C. Council also aimed to release the disciplinary records of officers, prohibit chokeholds or other airway restraints.
Peltola’s vote against the bill has been characterized as “anti-police” by critics, who point out that she is prioritizing criminals once again over law enforcement officers.
Fourteen Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the disapproval resolution that would block the D.C. Council. They were Reps. Nikki Budzinski (Ill.), Angie Craig (Minn.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Jared Golden (Maine), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Susie Lee (Nevada), Wiley Nickel (N.C.), Jimmy Panetta (Calif.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Pat Ryan (N.Y.), Kim Schrier (Wash.) and Eric Sorensen (Ill.). These Democrats recognize that it’s hard enough to hire police officers these days without putting their every action under the microscope in such a way that it can ruin their careers.
President Joe Biden has said he will veto the action if it reaches his desk. Its fate in the Senate is currently unknown, but it could pass.
The vote comes after Peltola’s previous vote in favor of reduced penalties for violent criminals in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, a position that has drawn criticism from victim advocates and law-and-order lawmakers.
“Mary Peltola’s shameful anti-police vote shows our law enforcement that she doesn’t have their back. Peltola clearly cares more about coddling criminals than keeping Alaskans safe,” said NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen.
