House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called out diversity, equity, and inclusion doctrine on Friday saying the initiative distracted law enforcement agencies from their primary task of protecting the public.
Speaking to WWL out of New Orleans, Scalise discussed the recent terrorist attack in his home state of Lousiana. Early Wednesday morning, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, 42, drove a pickup truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens of others before being shot to death by police, according to authorities.
Scalise questioned how many federal and state agencies tasked with protecting civilians have gone down the time-consuming rabbit hole of the diversity movement. “Some of these agencies have gotten so wrapped up in the DEI movement. You know, call it wokeness, call it whatever you want,” he said, adding, “but where their main focus is on diversity and inclusion as opposed to security. And they’re two very different things. And we’ve got to get back to that core mission.”
The representative from Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District since 2008 rattled off a list of other areas where the DEI movement has infected the primary mission of its agents and personnel.
“And this has happened in the DOD as well," he said, referring to the Department of Defense, "and we pointed that out in DOD. We pointed it out in Homeland. We pointed it out in the FBI. And so, you know, if nothing else, let’s get back to these agencies focused on keeping Americans safe, period.”
Lamenting the widening chasm between an agency's core mission and their actually training, Scalise hoped all of law enforcement gets back on track. “It seems the further away we get from Sept. 11, the closer we are to Sept. 10. It’s the attitude of, ‘It can’t happen again.’ It just did … I think they let their guard down and are focused on things other than keeping our homeland safe ... when they lose focus lives are lost.”
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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