When Baton Rouge repeat-criminal Alton Sterling was killed by a white police officer July 5 and then followed by the death of Philando Castile July 6, President Barack Obama had some harsh words for the nation’s law enforcement community. “As a nation we can and must do better to institute the best practices that reduce the appearance or reality of racial bias in law enforcement,” said Barack, giving black militant groups or individuals the green light to lash out at the police. Cable and network news broadcasts hyped the injustice against the black community, oozing racial animus toward white police officers. One day later, five Dallas police officers were massacred in a sniping attack by Micah Xavier Johnson, a former Army Reserve with two tours of duty in Afghanistan [2013, 2014], prompting the media into a 180, showing great sympathy to the law enforcement community the day after.
Today’s sniping attack by 29-year-old former marine Gavin Long in Baton Rouge, killing 3 white police officers, injuring four more, one critically, needs the strongest unambiguous condemnation by the White House. “These are not isolated incidents,” said Barack, speaking from Warsaw, Poland July 9. “They are symptomatic of a broader set of racial disparities that exist in our criminal justice system,” essentially blaming the white-on-black officer-involved shootings on racism. Barack’s reckless analysis gave license of black militants, including Black Lives Matters, to blame the incidents on racism. Speaking as commander-in-chief, Obama’s spoke recklessly about garden-variety officer-involved shootings in high-crime areas that don’t typically involve racism but are caused by many factors related to the criminal and way in which police handle stressful incidents.
Speaking today about the newest set of black-perpetrated cop-killings, Obama’s response was equally feckless. “We don’t need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda. We need to temper our words and open our hearts . . . all of us,” said Obama. When Barack talks about careless accusations, he’s talking about himself blaming recent officer-involved shootings on racism. Obama knows that no matter how unfortunate, officer-involved shootings of black-or-white suspects happen daily in America’s blighted cities and towns. With more police officers murdered, Obama needed to put the black militant community, including Black Lives Matter on notice, that violence against the police will not be tolerated. There’s no “all of us,” suggesting that law enforcement agencies must apologize or walk on egg shells when policing American streets.
Barack needs to come out forcefully telling all citizens that violence against U.S. law enforcement won’t be tolerated, no matter what the civil rights history. Obama, the Congressional Black Caucus, Black Lives Matter and other civil rights groups, have no leg to stand on screaming racism when it comes to officer-involved-shootings. All can attribute officer-involved shootings to poor police training or even a lack of fitness for police duty, not systematic racism. Blaming shootings on racism is outrageous when a large body of evidence on officer-involved shootings point to poor training or mental health issues for officers. In the Alton Sterling or Philando Castile incidents, it’s way too early to conclude anything, certainly not blaming the shootings on racism. Obama’s fast-and-loose statements fanned the racial flames, opening the door to today’s horrific Baton Rouge cop-killings.
Obama needs to go on the airwaves to put black militant groups and individuals on notice that cop-killings will not be tolerated, regardless of civil rights history or how the media hypes the incidents. Barack’s past statements about “racial disparities” advance nothing about the problem of officer-involved shootings, regardless of victims’ race. Talking about a “broken criminal justice system” only gives deranged individuals a license to kill law enforcement for what they think is racial injustice. No public figure, let alone the president, should point fingers at law enforcement, the very group keeping the country from disorder and anarchy. Whatever the history with the African American community, law enforcement must do its job protecting the public from criminal behavior. Pointing fingers at law enforcement from the White House or news networks doesn’t make it right.
Identifying with the black community, Obama lacks the objectivity to tell the public the honest truth about officer-involved-shootings: That they have little to do with racism, far more with poor policing and mental health issues. Blaming officer-involved shootings on racism gives militant groups and individuals the green light for violence. Today’s Baton Rouge cop-killings, like foreign terrorist acts, involve deranged individuals attaching themselves to off-the-wall causes. With enough crazies on the streets with guns, Obama doesn’t need to feed the insanity of cop-killing by raising issues of “racial disparity” or “a broken criminal justice system.” Cop-killing threatens domestic tranquility and U.S. national security, whether performed by foreign or domestic terrorists, warranting the president’s unambiguous condemnation—not lectures on possible racism.
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