Entertainment mogul Tyler Perry is distancing himself from the portion of the Black Lives Matter movement advocating the dismantling and defunding of police departments around the country.
In fact, the A Fall From Grace producer told CNN’s Anderson Cooper the work to shrink and even eliminate police forces “troubles me.” During their discussion last week, Perry told the anchor he believes the country needs “more” police officers—not fewer.
“We need the police…” says director, producer and actor @tylerperry. “…But we need them reformed, we need them trained well and we need the right structure.” pic.twitter.com/FY7W0v7pKg
— CNN (@CNN) July 30, 2020
“I’m worried now, because of what I’m seeing,” he said.
The 53-year-old Perry, who is a Christian, told Cooper he is “not for taking money from the police department.” Rather, he explained, “I think we need more police. My studio is in a neighborhood where I think we need police.”
“But we don’t need police that are undertrained,” he continued. “And you got to understand, I have really close friends who are police officers that I love dearly who are really good people, who have been very, very hurt by this as well.”
Hollywood Producer Tyler Perry Opens New Atlanta Studio With Star-Studded Worship Service
Millions of Americans across the country, he told the CNN host, agree with him when it comes to the necessity of police.
“There are a lot of people in America who feel the way that I do, right?” Perry told Cooper. “I think we need the police. I know that I need the police; I have several that work for me here at the studio. We need them. But we need them reformed; we need them trained well; we need the right structure.”
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