Pushing Back on Police Vilification

This week’s Sunday morning talk shows were strewn with diametrically opposed responses to the Dallas ambush on police officers and the heightened racial tensions simmering throughout the United States.

After a polarizing week that saw escalating violence directed at police officers, first Thursday with a black sniper murdering police officers in Dallas, followed by copy cat attacks on police through the weekend, several key law enforcement officials pushed for a greater solidarity with cops, while allies of Hillary Clinton defended her continual stirring of racial tensions.

“This is a time of great pressure on our officers. There’s always pressure on American police officers [and] danger.”

In a marked departure from the response of his boss President Obama, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson was unequivocal in defending the vast majority of police from the insinuation of racism.

“Incidents of profiling, of excessive force, are not reflective of the larger law enforcement community that every single day is out there to serve and protect us,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We mourn the loss of five heroic police officers in Dallas who were there to protect those engaged in a peaceable demonstration.”

Johnson noted the commitment of the police in Dallas to protecting the civilians around them, even as they were being targeted.

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“The response there, when they’re being shot at, is to want to protect the public, is to make sure that those civilians there are safe,” Johnson said, “That’s the reaction of law enforcement, that’s what we expect, and that’s, in fact, what happens every single day. And it’s important to remember that.”

Even though Johnson admitted that he had had his share of “unpleasant encounters” with law enforcement officers in his younger days, he still emphasized the importance of putting “it into perspective.”

In these times, building bridges, conversations, community relationships between the community, between law enforcement, can and does work,” Johnson said.

William Bratton, the New York Police Commissioner, sought to remind the nation of the sacrifices that police officers make every day on the job, as well as the difficult decisions they are called upon to make.

“I think her speech a couple of nights ago was totally irresponsible when she talked about white people being to blame. I mean, that is so irresponsible”

“This is a time of great pressure on our officers. There’s always pressure on American police officers [and] danger,” Bratton said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “Policing is a shared responsibility. It’s all about dialogue, it’s all about understanding each other, seeing each other, hearing each other. Remember police officers come from the community. We don’t bring them in from Mars.”

But one Sunday show guest chose to offer presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton cover for her continual stirring of the racial pot in comments made Friday, rather than push back on the growing swell of anti-police sentiment in the nation.

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Clinton supporter Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro defended controversial comments made Friday from the former Secretary of State during an interview on “This Week,” saying that she was trying to communicate “that each of us lives a different experience in the United States.”

“And it’s something that is very thorny that makes us uncomfortable but something that we have to deal with and come to terms with,” Castro said.

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Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a Trump supporter who appeared earlier on “This Week,” lambasted Clinton for her “irresponsible” response to the nation’s recent tragedies.

“I think her speech a couple of nights ago was totally irresponsible when she talked about white people being to blame. I mean, that is so irresponsible,” Flynn said. “What we have to look at is speech that’s positive, that’s forward-looking and demonstrates an intellectual courage that doesn’t try to attack an ideology one way or the other.”

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings echoed some of Flynn’s sentiments during an appearance on “Face the Nation,” saying that the only way that Dallas can aid the nation at large in moving forward after such tragedies is to practice forgiving one another and seeking redemption.

“Well, I think we are a laboratory for the United States. Can we in a moment of crisis when officers are fallen, forgive? Can we disagree without demonizing? Can we see a better narrative as opposed to just absurdity?” Rawlings said. “That there is redemption as we build this great city. I believe we can and I believe we will.”