Rep. Scholten helps get more public money for the cops and has an shallow response to the GRPD killing of Da’Quain Johnson

Last week Rep. Hillary Scholten posted on her facebook page that she worked with the Kent County Sheriff’s office to secure $750,000 of public funds (federal funds), “that enables local law enforcement agencies across Kent County to communicate in real time.”

This quote comes directly from the Kent County Undersheriff Byran Muir, who was quoted in a WOODTV8 story. In that same channel 8 story Rep. Scholten stated:

“Out of those dozens of projects, I only get to choose 15. And so I choose the ones that matter most to this community. The ones that have, from my perspective, the best chance of doing the most good in the community. And that’s why I chose this project.”

So, lets be clear here, Rep. Scholten gets to decide on 15 projects to fund annually in the 3rd Congressional District. She chose to give $750,000 in public tax dollars to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office’s office to assist them to communicate more with other law enforcement agencies across Kent County. I have two responses to this.

First, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office receives the largest portion of public funding in the County’s budget (as I noted in a post from last September) and Scholten got an additional three quarters of a million dollars. The Kent County Sheriff’s office already collaborates with local police departments and they collaborate with ICE, specifically through holding immigrants at the jail for ICE and likely sharing Flock camera information with ICE. By getting the Kent County Sheriff’s office an additional $750,000 she is also complicit in how the sheriff’s office works with ICE to detain immigrants and separate immigrant families.

Second, of all the projects that Scholten could use our money to fund, she chose to give it to cops instead of making sure that families who are struggling to buy groceries, pay rent or cover health care costs. Rep. Scholten spends a great deal of time complaining about the economy under the Trump Administration, yet when given an opportunity to return funds to the most vulnerable people in her district, she choses to give it to an institution that will cause more harm in the most vulnerable communities.

How Scholten responded to the GRPD killing of Da’Quain Johnson

Here is what Rep. Scholten posted on her Facebook page.

Rep. Scholten doesn’t say the most important thing is supporting the family of Da’Quain Johnson, she says “the most important thing we can do for the victim, for the survivors, for the officers still protecting our city….. What? Wait, did she just say for the officers still protecting our city. How the hell can anyone center the need to support cops in this moment or any moment for that matter, since cops murder civilians all the time in the US. According to mapping police violence, the cops killed 1,314 civilians in 2025 and have already killed 147 in the first 2 months of 2026.

Rep. Scholten’s words are not only offensive, but they are hollow and meaningless words to the family of Da’Quain Johnson and to the entire community.