Long-simmering anger in law enforcement circles at President Obama started spilling into public Friday when some blamed the White House for stirring lethal hatred of cops by focusing most on civilians killed in confrontations and not the 58 police who have died on the job this year — five in Dallas last night and today.
David A. Clarke Jr., of sheriff of Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, bluntly called Obama the “cop hater in chief.”
American needs Obama to get out of bed & address Dallas situation NOW. He poured gas on this situation with his dog whistle message earlier.
— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) July 8, 2016
He added in a tweet after the Dallas shootings began, “America needs Obama to get out of bed & address Dallas situation NOW. He poured gas on this situation with his dog whistle message earlier.” That was a reference to Obama’s statement, made in Poland, about this week’s police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Friday morning, “We don’t feel much support most days, let’s not make today most days.”
Former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino, who worked in the Obama White House, said the president “is to blame for the anti-police culture out there.”
Bongino, a popular author and Florida House candidate, said that Obama for years has ignored police in focusing on racism and victims of police violence. The result, he said, is that Obama has helped create a “permissive culture to go out and crap all over law enforcement, and hey it’s all good because the cops are some subhuman species.”
Law enforcement authorities he has talked to said that “they feel like Obama is actively putting them in danger.”
On Fox News Friday, Clarke added, that Obama “didn’t cause this but he fuels this sort of anger, this misplaced anger.”
Police are especially angry with Obama for blaming racism in the two police shootings this week in Louisiana and Minnesota, though racism hasn’t been cited as a cause yet.
Many in law enforcement urged investigators in those and the Dallas shootings to calmly follow the law.
“In Dallas last night, America witnessed what is probably the most deadly ambush and assassination of law enforcement officers in U.S. history in a coordinated attack. We pray for the officers and their families of those killed and injured. We pray for the safety of all law enforcement officers nationwide. We are also calling for calm. We have a system of justice in this county. It must be given the chance to work no matter how angry people may be. Taking the law into one’s own hands will not solve the problems we face. Everyone in this county must now come together and work together to resolve these issues,” said Greg Champagne, sheriff of St. Charles Parish in Louisiana and president of the National Sheriffs’ Association.
The shootings this week are expected to spark a new buying binge of guns. Justin Anderson, the marketing director of Hyatt Guns in Charlotte, N.C., one of the nation’s biggest, said, “We have a thriving police, first responder and military business and we employ several ex-cops. Our hearts go out to our friends in the law enforcement community today. When cowards like those in Dallas commit murder in the name of race, it’s nothing short of domestic terrorism. We’re urging all of our customers, including members of law enforcement and civilians, to stay vigilant. The best defense against a mass shooting is to buy a gun, get trained to use that gun, and carry it all the time.”
The anger at Obama began earlier this year when a number of police deaths were ignored by the White House. Several killings came near Washington, but got none of the kind of attention Obama has given to civilians killed by police.
In neighboring Maryland, for example, Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees mocked the president on Facebook after two of his deputies were killed “Mr. President, your silence about these events SPEAKS VOLUMES!!!! PS: I’ll be standing outside in the cold next week with my deputies for the funerals of the Harford Co deputies; I’ll save you a spot next to me!”
Pop star Beyonce, a favorite of the Obamas, was also hit by cops for her pro Black Lives Matter show at the Super Bowl.
“This needs to go away, this is propaganda, and it’s going to cost people’s lives,” said Laramie County, Wyo., Sheriff Danny Glick, the former president of the National Sheriffs Association.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
