Democrats should reject Andrew Janz’ dog-whistle politics
Progressives have a moral imperative to keep Andrew Janz out of Congress.
Janz’ campaign rhetoric of a prosecutor who is “tough on crime” combined with photographs alongside Fresno police and Chief Jerry Dyer is blatant dog-whistle politics to court GOP voters. The message is clear: while he is a Democrat, he will perpetuate the draconian policies of mass incarceration heralded by Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan if elected to office.
His own campaign website refers to police as “peace officers” and condemns the Trump administration “threatening to withhold” federal funds from law enforcement agencies – but has nothing to say about militarized police departments or the 146 Fresno police shootings of civilians between 2001-2016.
No officer has ever been prosecuted under the Dyer regime, and according to the ACLU, 55 FPD officers have been involved in more than one shooting.
Conservative Democrats have failed to defeat Devin Nunes before, and they will fail once again if Janz wins the primary. I urge progressive Democrats to please consider supporting one of the three other CD-22 candidates: Bobby Bliatout, Rico Franco or Brant John Michael Williams. Communities of color, especially black and Latino communities, need someone to stand up to the police state.
Emily Cameron, Fresno
This story was originally published January 27, 2018 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Democrats should reject Andrew Janz’ dog-whistle politics."