No One Is Safe From Backlash When Criticizing the Police, Even the Police

[marmar]

No One Is Safe From Backlash When Criticizing the Police, Even the Police

Sunday, 11 January 2015 09:21
By Crystal Shepeard, Care2 | Report


In early December, an Instagram photo of Richmond, California Police Chief Chris Magnus began to circulate online. The uniformed police chief was holding a sign with the hashtag #blacklivesmatter during a peaceful protest. He, along with the Deputy Chief, had gathered with the 150 protestors outside a community center in one of hundreds of similar protests that had happened since two grand juries had failed to indict officers in the killing of unarmed black men in Missouri and New York City.

Under Chief Magnus’ watch, the police department had averaged only one police officer involved shooting since 2007. The record of no officer-involved killings since 2008 had been broken just two months before when a suspect was killed during a pursuit and subsequent struggle with an officer. The chief was so revered that the suspect’s family invited him to the funeral.

Nevertheless, when the photo appeared, the local police officers association took offense, saying that his participation in the protest while in uniform was a violation of law (it wasn’t). They were disappointed that the chief had chosen to participate in a political statement. As the backlash continued, Chief Magnus responded by asking, “When did it become a political act to acknowledge that ‘black lives matter’ and show respect for the very real concerns of our minority communities?”

.....(snip).....

Even the media is not immune in the rare cases it acknowledges there are real issues.

A cartoon that appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times in Pennsylvania depicted children lined up to speak to Santa Claus. The children, who were black, smiled as Santa was holding the hand of the first one in line to pull him toward him. The little boy’s Christmas wish is for Santa to “keep us safe from police.” The cartoon by nationally syndicated cartoonist Chris Bratt incensed the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 in Pennsylvania, who, after condemning the paper and the media to hell, demanded an apology for the racist cartoon. The paper nor the cartoonist apologized, the latter highlighting in an editorial that the venomous letter only highlighted how law enforcement viewed so many with disdain. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/28474-no-one-is-safe-from-backlash-when-criticizing-the-police-even-the-police