Today, The Shadow League bears witness to calling out a most unfortunate phenomenon that we predicted would explode back on December 2014 when New York Police Department police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were murdered in their patrol cars by 28-year-old Ismaalyl Brinsley on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Tompkins in Bed-Stuy. As sad a moment as that was, it became even sadder when serial sycophants, conservative pundits, and downright racists immediately jumped on the story. They became even more fervent in their consternation when it was revealed that Brinsley made references to being inspired by the murder of Michael Brown to take actions against the police on his social media accounts. The thing about serial police sycophants and conservative pundits is that, all too often, you cant tell them from the downright racists.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani fired the first shot almost immediately.
Weve had four months of propaganda starting with the president that everybody should hate the police, Giuliani said during an appearance on Fox News on Sunday. The protests are being embraced, the protests are being encouraged. The protests, even the ones that dont lead to violence, a lot of them lead to violence, all of them lead to a conclusion. The police are bad, the police are racist. That is completely wrong.
The manner of scapegoating was initially aimed primarily at Barack Obama, and the Black Lives Matter Movement that gained notoriety since the deaths of Eric Garner and Mike Brown.
The President, as well as the family of Mike Brown, released a statement denouncing the callous action of the shooter almost immediately. While it was to be expected that the POTUS would speak out against the shootings-especially considering he had already been criticized for not using tough enough language to denounce the Ferguson Uprisings-I felt like the Brown family was forced into feeling obligated to condemn the deaths based upon some nutjobs mention of their sons name. The shooter also killed his girlfriend before traveling to New York and killing the officers. Did Mike Browns death drive him to kill his mate as well? His quotes were clearly the musings of a mad man. Yet, they have been conveniently usurped for the purpose of misdirection and misinformation.
From the very beginning, the right began using the extreme language to describe an isolated incident as being part of a greater dialectic. Most popular among them is the so-called War on Police. A group of people with guns using the term war to describe the discussion that has largely centered on citizens protesting police brutality is scary.
These are attempts to shame the President, discredit an increasingly more powerful movement, and the re-normalization of police shootings of unarmed Black and Brown males as simply being part of the job.
Though my talents are many, omniscience is not among them. However, it was very easy to see what direction this discourse would move in very early on. NYPD Police Commissioner Bill Bratton blamed Mayor Bill de Blasio for the shooting deaths of the two NYPD officers.
The parade of Republican presidential candidates has become indiscernible from the aforementioned sycophants, conservatives and racists simply for speaking with disingenuousness against the President of the United States, who is a Black democrat, the Black Lives Matter movement and other newly-minted proxies for justice. Additionally, theyre speaking lies onto the deaths of officers who were killed in the line of duty by saying their deaths are part of an uptick in violence against law enforcement while alluding to officers, some of whom lie about their actions after the fact, as being of more importance than men and women who do not wear a uniform.
Last month Harris County (TX) deputy Darren H. Golorth was shot in the back of the head while he pumped gasoline. He was killed instantly. The suspect, Shannon Miles, was apprehended the next day. One cant help wonder whether rigormortis had set in before his death was politicized as well. The cries reigned in from far and wide. Its Obamas fault! Why, because the suspect is a Black person? Its the Black Lives Matter Movements fault for riling up all the good colored folks?
The pompous proselytizers included such right-wing notables as Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, GOP Presidential candidate Scott Walker, professional fat person Chris Christie, Bibby Jindal, Fox News Megyn Kelly and a seemingly never ending menagerie of racists and demagogues cleverly disguised as right-wing pundits.
NY Police Union Boss Patrick Lynch recently called individuals who criticize the actions of officers who use excessive force in the blowback resulting from the arrest of former tennis star James Blake, who was wrestled to the ground, berated and handcuffed by an arresting officer who Blake says never even identified himself as such.
“It is mystifying to all police officers to see pundits and editorial writers whose only expertise is writing fast-breaking, personal opinion, and who have never faced the dangers that police officers routinely do, come to instant conclusions that an officers actions were wrong based upon nothing but a silent video,” Lynch writes. “That is irresponsible, unjust and un-American.”
But what is more unjust than the slaying of unarmed citizens? What is more un-American than the police state that many must wade through daily just to go about their day?
Then, once the rich and powerful are done running thier mouths, the right goes and finds Black people to parrot their concerns to the masses, individuals such as youtube sensation Peggy Hubbard, who was also spotted protesting against anti-police brutality protestors in Ferguson last summer, and Fox’s favorite Black police officer Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and his clueless ass self. But now that the facts regarding police deaths in the line of duty have been revealed, so too have the liars and exaggerators been unmasked.
Those facts are as follows: when accounting for deaths by heart attack (13) and car accidents (19), a total of 26 police officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in the United States this year. Thats compared to 47 cops who suffered a similar fate last year. When that is contrasted against 792 people who have been killed by police thus far this year we see the fault line between hyperbole and lies within these statements is actually a trench. The truth of the matter is police officers are far more likely to commit suicide than be killed in the line of duty. Only one NYPD cop was killed by a firearm in the line of duty from 2008 to 2012. Meanwhile, eight officers killed themselves in 2012, six in 2013.
Whose fault is that? Somehow, Obama and BLM will be blamed for that as well.
The Bureau of Labor reports that policeman have one of the safest jobs in the country. Also, the New York Post reports that were currently on track to see fewer police deaths by firearm in this country since 1887. These statistics were culled from the obviously pro-law enforcement National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.
Those these blatant oversights, stints of vapid hyperbole, and straight out lies for the sake of scapegoating cannot ever be overlooked or forgiven, I do understand. After all, were coming up on an election year and nothing screams Vote Republican quite like demonizing Black people and belittling their struggle.
