Vulnerable Ohio Democrat Rep. Marcy Kaptur has released campaign ads claiming to be pro-law enforcement, despite her voting record to the contrary and being supported by groups that want to defund the police.
Over the last month, Kaptur has released ads claiming that she is pro-law enforcement. Despite touting that she helped put new police officers on the street, Kaptur voted for legislation that eliminates protections for law enforcement and she has been supported by groups that want to defund the police. She has also tried to depict her opponent as an extremist.
Last year, she co-sponsored and voted for H.R. 1280, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021, which would “defund the police” by costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year, enact restrictions on policing practices, and eliminate protections for law enforcement.
Republicans described the bill as a plan to “defund the police.”
The Democrats, in their anti-police voting spree last year, wanted to use the bill to eliminate qualified immunity for law enforcement. The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) explained that “qualified immunity is an essential part of policing,” and eliminating it “would have a profoundly chilling effect on police officers and limit their ability and willingness to respond to critical incidents without hesitation.”
An analysis of the bill from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said the bill would cost more than 18,000 police departments around the country significant amounts of money. “More than 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide would be affected by the bill’s requirements,” the CBO said in a letter to top congressional Republicans on the matter:
All would incur costs for training and for data collection, management, and reporting. Using information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and law enforcement associations nationwide, CBO expects that more than 6,000 agencies would either need to upgrade or to invest in new technology to comply with the new reporting requirements.
Additionally, Kaptur has also been supported by radical groups in the past, taking thousands of dollars from and being endorsed by groups that want to defund the police. The congresswoman has taken $1,000 from Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Sierra Club, in addition to being endorsed by the Ohio Chapter of the Sierra Club, and both groups support defunding the police.
Furthermore, despite her ad touting that she helped fund a new jail, Kaptur has voted to release prisoners and give them stimulus checks.
In 2020, Kaptur voted for H.R. 6800, the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill that passed the House by a slim 208 to 199 margin. A section of the bill would have released prisoners who are juveniles, over 50 years old, have less than one year left on their sentences, or have a serious health condition. In addition, the bill also allocated $250 million to help “ease the transition of prisoners back into society and to prevent them from committing another crime and returning to the criminal justice system,” Roll Call reported.
In 2021, she also voted for the American Rescue Plan, which sent $924.3 million in stimulus payments to prison inmates, the Washington Examiner reported, after it was initially reported by Fox News to be $783.5 million. The Examiner’s review of FOIA documents from the IRS records showed that “the money went to approximately 645,000 people who were incarcerated at the start of the year.”
Leading up to the general election in November, Kaptur appears to be worried about her chances of being reelected, as she will go up against a political newcomer, Donald Trump-backed Republican J.R. Majewski.
J.R. Majewski (courtesy J.R. Majewski)
But, despite the congresswoman’s efforts to mark Majewski as some type of “extremist,” the ads came after Majewski received the endorsement of the Toledo Police Officers’ Association. After the ads aired, he responded directly to them by releasing a short video on social media.
“Marcy Kaptur decided to put out a little campaign video, calling me an extremist and insinuating that she actually supports our police,” the Trump-backed Republican stated about the congresswoman’s targeting him after not getting endorsed by the police herself.
“Marcy wants to refer to people as extremists, but the reality of it is, is that the Democratic Party are the extremists,” he said. “They’re the ones that are extremely overreaching and stomping on our liberties. And they’re scared as hell because people like me are gonna stop ’em.”
In fact, Majewski’s response plays into the same theme he has wanted to run his campaign on the entire time. During an interview with Breitbart News in June, Majewski said he wanted to focus his campaign on the truth, unlike his “career politician” opponent, who has been focusing on “slander” to win in November.
“Unlike Marcy Kaptur, I’m not focusing on and trying to slander my opponent. I’m talking about truth. And the truth is that constituents in Ohio Nine are worried about inflation,” he stated at the time.
He was referring to Kaptur trying to capitalize on the anti-Trump January 6 Select Committee hearings by launching a smear campaign on social media to blame Majewski for provoking the riots on January 6, 2021, and using parts of a video to accuse him of having “disdain” for law enforcement, despite her own voting record.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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