Austin Approves Cutting $150 Million From Police Department Budget

People hold up signs outside Austin Police Department after a vigil for Garrett Foster, a Black Lives Matter protester who was shot dead after allegedly brandishing his firearm at a driver, in Austin ,Texas, on July 26, 2020. Sergio Flores/Getty Images

The Austin City Council on Thursday slashed close to $150 million from the city’s police department budget, after calls to defund the police from Black Lives Matter activists.

“We did this in response to overwhelming and unprecedented community input. This is truly the people’s budget,” Councilwoman Natasha Harper-Madison wrote in a social media statement after the vote.