More lies and more complicity in state violence from Rep. Hillary Scholten

In recent days, Rep. Hillary Scholten has continued to demonstrate that her allegiances are primarily to state violence, based on comments she has made on her Facebook page. 

The first example of demonstrating her commitment to state violence, or what scholar Ruth Wilson Gilmore names as the carceral state was a post that Rep. Scholten made, which stated:

“Law enforcement officers work hard to keep us safe. It’s great to see funding from The United States Department of Justice made available for resources to help our officers feel their best so they can protect our communities.” 

What Rep Scholten was referring to in her post is that there are $9.8 million available for local police departments to apply for funding for cops who need mental health access. Put in proper context, the mental health access that most cops need is based on the dealing with the harm they perpetrate in our communities. According to the site Mapping violence, in 2023, police across the US killed 1,352 people, which is the largest number of people that cops have killed in one year since Mapping Violence began tracking this information in 2013. 

Additionally, when Rep. Scholten states that, “Law enforcement officers work hard to keep us safe,” she not only provides no concrete evidence of such a claim, but it contradicts the previous data I just cited. Such a claim also contradicts the lived experience that many of us have – especially BIPOC communities – with the real function of policing, which is to protect systems of power and oppression. See my example from Friday’s GRIID post about the GRPD. 

The second example of how Rep. Scholten defends the state violence was from another recent Facebook page post which stated:

“Thank you, President Joe Biden, for delivering this critical aid to civilians in Gaza. As we continue our steadfast work to bring the hostages home and end the fighting for good, we need to be doing everything possible to support innocent civilians in harm’s way.”

This Facebook post was celebrating the recent announcement from the Biden Administration about airdrops that the US would conduct contain so-called humanitarian aid. Such an announcement simply reeks of hypocrisy, for several reasons. 

First, the US recently decided to end funding of UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency that has a long history of providing humanitarian aid to places like Gaza. The US argument for ending any financial support for UNRWA was their claim that staff members of UNRWA were working in collaboration with Hamas during the October 7 attack. Such a claim has been exposed as a fabrication by the Israeli military. In a February article from Truthout, the headline read, Report Finds “No Evidence” in Key Dossier to Support Israel’s UNRWA Allegations.” In that article it states:

U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 obtained a copy of the six-page document in which Israeli officials alleged that a dozen of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees’s (UNRWA) 30,000 employees were involved in the October 7 attack led by Hamas. The allegations made in the document, originating from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), have spurred 16 countries so far to suspend funding to the UNRWA, even as humanitarian groups warn that this will only further Israel’s genocide.

Second, and more importantly, the US can claim no humanitarian role in the current Israeli genocide agains the Palestinians. The US has provided more military funding to Israel than any other country for decades, plus the US has provided many of the weapons that the Israeli have used to destroy Gaza and in the upcoming campaign in Rafah. In addition, the Biden Administration has not only unconditionally supported Israel during their genocidal campaign, the Biden Administration has voted down three separate calls from the UN General Assembly to demand an immediate ceasefire. In other words, the US cain’t claim they are delivering critical aid – Rep. Scholten’s words – when they have provided the weapons to bomb Gaza, blocked an international vote for a ceasefire and have defending Israel’s genocidal campaign from the get go. You can’t bomb the shit out of Gaza and then claim to want to help them at the same time. People around the world and in the 3rd Congressional District just aren’t buying that crap Rep. Scholten!