Attorney General William Barr threatened communities that have been critical of police brutality, saying they have to be more deferential to the police or risk losing police presence in their neighborhoods entirely. Barr’s comments at a Washington, D.C., awards ceremony for policing sparked immediate criticism. Vanita Gupta, a former head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said, “The idea that the attorney general of the United States, the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, is recommending abandoning communities as retribution for pushing for police reform or criticizing policing practices, is profoundly dangerous and irresponsible.”