DC's black activists protest outside Vince Gray's home with police defunding calls
Local black activists held a "wakeup call" at 5:45 a.m. Saturday outside Councilmember Vince Gray's home. (provided)
WASHINGTON - Local black activists held a "wakeup call" early Saturday morning outside the home of Councilmember Vince Gray (D-7th Ward), decrying his silence after calls for defunding District police.
The protest started at 5:45 a.m. The rally included paper gravestones bearing the names of unarmed black people killed by D.C. police.
Gray did not have an immediate comment.
RELATED: What 'defunding the police' means
Activists across the country have called for defunding police departments in the wake of George Floyd's death. Some activists say some police funds can be shifted toward neighborhood investment, while others want local policing abolished altogether.
District officials, however, are moving in the opposite direction.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has proposed more police funding, about $580 million total, in her next budget.
Many local police officers are already displeased with political police reform efforts.
Nearly three in four D.C. police officers said in an anonymous survey that they're considering leaving the force over proposed police reform legislation working its way through the Wilson Building.
Last week FOX 5 obtained audio of MPD Chief Peter Newsham telling his force in a private video address that the District's city council has "completely abandoned" them by "insinuating that we are in need of reform."
RELATED: DC police chief tells officers the city council has "completely abandoned" them