GRPD Union endorses Congressional Candidate Peter Meijer with campaign contributions

According to the most recent data from the Michigan Secretary of State’s office, the Grand Rapids Police Police Officers Association PAC, which was submitted 10/202020, they contributed $1,000 to Peter Meijer, one of the candidates running for the 3rd Congressional District in Michigan.

If one looks at Peter Meijer’s website, specifically the issues section, it says nothing about Meijer’s stance on policing. However, campaign contributions are not always about the candidate who receives the money, sometimes it’s about their opponent.

Meijer is running against Hillary Scholten. Now, Scholten doesn’t really address policing on her website either , but there are PACs that are running paid ads on various platforms that suggest that Scholten is supported by groups that want to DeFund the Police. 

The group behind the ads is the Congressional Leadership Fund, which is a Republic Political Action Committee. You can view the 2 adds they have been running that tries to link Scholten to “rioters in Grand Rapids” and groups that support Defunding the Police, along with social media images like the one above. This campaign is merely trying to play on the fears of White people in West Michigan, which is the same tactics that other GOP candidates having been using to attack other candidates in the upcoming election.

The Grand Rapids Police Police Officers Association does not have any information on their support for Peter Meijer, either on their website or their Facebook page. However, it is reasonable to assume that the cop union is aware of the attack ads against Scholten, specifically the ones around police defunding. 

Lastly, the Grand Rapids Police Police Officers Association PAC, also contributed $1,000 to one of Peter Meijer’s opponents in the Primary Election, Tom Norton. Therefore, it seems that the police union in Grand Rapids wanted to give an equal amount to the Republican candidate for the November election. Regardless of the motivations, the Grand Rapids Police Police Officers Association PAC funding of Meijer is consistent with their support of Norton, both of which support the rhetoric an policies of the Trump administration.