Watch John Oliver make a passionate case for defunding the police

John Oliver devoted Sunday's entire episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight to a single topic: Police brutality and the need for reform.

Giving a performance that was notably more passionate and serious than usual, the Emmy-winning host discussed the history of law enforcement in the United States, how Hollywood glamorizes policing, political reaction to the protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, and some proposals to potentially improve the system moving forward.

"[The] response to those protests, which have been a stirring push back against institutional racism and brutality has been frankly sickening," Oliver said after playing clips of police officers attacking protesters. "If police are trying to convince the public they're not guilty of using excessive force it's probably not a good idea to display excessive force on national television."

The episode has racked up more than 1.2 million views (and quickly climbing), and Oliver was trending on Twitter on Monday morning.

Oliver's segment also included making a case for the defunding the police, a movement that he said has been misrepresented by some in the media (such as Fox News' Tucker Carlson).

"Defunding the police absolutely doesn't mean we eliminate all cops and succumb to The Purge," Oliver said. "Instead, it's about moving away from a narrow conception of public safety that relies on policing and punishment and investing in a community's actual safety net — things like stable housing, mental health services, and community organization. The concept is the role of the police can significantly shrink because they're not responding to the homeless, or to mental health calls, or arresting children in schools, or other situations where the best solution isn't someone showing up with a gun. This clearly isn't about individual officers, it's about a structure built on systemic racism, that this country created intentionally and now needs to dismantle intentionally and replace with one that takes into account the needs of the people it actually serves and this is going to take sustained pressure and attention over a long period of time from all of us."

Oliver concluded the episode with a clip of Kimberly Jones, author of I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, who referenced The Daily Show host's Trevor Noah's viral take on looting, where he explained that you can't expect black people to uphold the social contract of a peaceful society when that social contract is already broken. "There's a social contract we all have where if you steal or if I steal there's an authority who comes in and they fix the situation," Jones said. "But the person who fixes the situation is killing us. So the social contract is broken!"

To help combat systemic racism, please consider donating to these organizations:

• Campaign Zero, which is dedicated to ending police brutality in America through research-based strategies.
• Color of Change, which works to move decision makers in corporations and government to be more responsive to racial disparities.
• Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal services to people who have been wrongly convicted, denied a fair trial, or abused in state jails and prisons.

Related content:

• The most impactful moments from a somber week of late-night shows
• Watch Late Night writer Amber Ruffin recall repeated experiences with police racism
• Trevor Noah reflects on George Floyd's death and the logic of looting in heartfelt message