[NEWSBUSTERS.ORG] Reacting to the murder of officer Darren Goforth, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke told CNN's Pamela Brown that the "anti-cop rhetoric" being peddled by Black Lives Matter has "fueled" these recent attacks on police across the country.
Clarke argued that it was "very fair" to indite Black Lives Matter following the death of Officer Goforth especially "in light of the anti-cop rhetoric that is sweeping the United States of America, fueled by this group, some of the vulgar, vile rhetoric coming out talking about killing cops. And that's some of the nice stuff."
Clarke appeared on Erin Burnett OutFront with CNN's Marc Lamont Hill and made sure to clarify that not all police deaths were the fault of Black Lives Matter but stressed that respect for police across the country has vanished:
There's no fear anymore about assaulting or attacking, fighting, disarming or generally -- like I said assaulting law enforcement officers. You know what? If the shoe fits, wear it. Just like the Dylann Roof, right, went into a church and slaughtered nine church-goers. And every white person in America by this black lies movement, L-I-E-S, was indicted because of that. And other people came out and talked about slavery, discrimination alive and well in the United States. That's why I said, if the shoe fits here, wear it.
Despite Clarke pointing out the numerous instances of Black Lives Matter using violent anti-police rhetoric at the marches, Lamont Hill accused the sheriff of distorting the group's message:
The argument of Black Lives Matter is that coppers should be held to standards of accountability just like everybody else. The increased number of black bodies, the sustain of black bodies, which die at the hands of state violence needs to end. And it means while we regard all lives, we cannot exclude black lives. |