Sherrod Brown commends prosecutor candidate for advocating police defunding and ending cash bail. Grateful for their outspokenness.

Ohio⁤ Democratic senator Sherrod Brown in an August letter praised a ⁤left-wing prosecutor ⁤candidate in Cleveland who has​ endorsed⁤ calls to defund‍ police, end cash bail, and pull cops from schools,⁣ a Washington Free Beacon ‍review found.

Brown on ⁢August 7 wrote to⁣ Cuyahoga⁤ County prosecutor hopeful Matthew Ahn to thank the ‍candidate for “speaking out,” a photo of ⁢the letter shared by Ahn shows.‌ Ahn,‍ a left-wing ⁤law professor known ‍ for his progressive views, has long associated himself with the movement to defund police. At the height of the Black ⁣Lives Matter movement ‌in 2020, Ahn argued that “nothing‌ short of ⁤defunding” would combat ‌the “white supremacist infiltration of police⁢ forces.” Ahn ⁢also called ⁤ to “end cash bail” and “end police presence ⁤in schools,” ⁢and in 2021, the law ‍professor emphasized the need⁢ to “rethink the role of police, who continue ⁢to protect and ⁢serve a social order that never ⁤had any ⁢value⁣ to begin with.”

Brown’s willingness ⁣to ⁣associate​ with Ahn comes as the Democratic senator approaches a difficult reelection bid in a state that backed former president Donald Trump by 8 points in 2020. As Brown approaches that‌ race, he ‌has worked to ⁢rally behind police officers—in January,​ the Democrat lauded law enforcement officials for putting “their lives on ⁣the line⁢ each day, facing⁢ stressful ⁤and often dangerous situations, to protect Ohioans.” Following George Floyd’s death in‍ 2020, however, Brown sang a different tune, ⁤ arguing that⁢ police ⁣forces‍ that do not make reforms should not receive ⁣funding.

“Policing​ didn’t ⁤create our nation’s institutionalized⁤ racism. It’s ​a product of it, and it reinforces⁤ it,” Brown said.

Ahn did not‍ return a request for comment. A Brown campaign spokesman said the Democrat’s letter, which came roughly one week after Ahn launched his prosecutorial⁣ campaign, referred to an op-ed Ahn wrote on⁤ a state ‌ballot measure ⁣that ⁤did not deal with ‌policing.

But Brown continued to promote Ahn’s campaign ⁤after sending the letter—the senator appeared alongside Ahn at a ⁤Cleveland-area Labor Day parade, ‍which Ahn said included his ​”incredible⁣ campaign team and supporters.” Brown’s campaign said the senator “has no plans to endorse” in Ahn’s race and did not answer questions regarding Ahn’s‌ support for the defund police movement.

Ahn is challenging fellow Democrat and incumbent Cuyahoga County prosecutor Michael O’Malley, who has criticized Ahn as both inexperienced and extreme on criminal justice ‍issues.

“He’s never practiced in a courtroom in common ⁣pleas in Ohio. He’s the least experienced candidate to ever run for county prosecutor, maybe not just in⁤ Cuyahoga, but the entire state,” O’Malley told the‍ Cleveland-based Scene. “Does ​he think his platform of defund ⁢the police—which he’s supported on social media over the years—is appropriate given ‍the level​ of violence we’re seeing in⁤ our community?”