Law enforcement professionals say they’re bewildered by and angry at portrayals of them as white supremacists in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
That view was neatly summarized in a Jan. 12 column by Brookings Institution fellow Rashawn Ray titled “What the Capitol insurgency reveals about white supremacy and law enforcement.”
“America should be honest about the fact that while many people are attracted to law enforcement because they truly want to protect and serve, there are others who seek out these jobs because they want to enforce white supremacist ideologies,” Ray wrote.
Ray warned, citing news reports of extremists entering the ranks of local police departs, of an “infiltration of white supremacists in law enforcement” and argued that much of the United States’ entire understanding of criminal justice is rooted in “slave patrols.”
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That view of law enforcement, echoed by many Democratic members of Congress and shared widely in academic and other realms, is entirely foreign to those who actually work in the field.
“Really, the only thing I can say against that is that I’ve done 20 years in law enforcement, and I’ve been a trainer for going on 14 years, I’ve got to meet a lot of officers from a lot of agencies from a lot of states. Not one of the issues I have ever seen is an issue with white supremacy or anything like that,” said United States Deputy Sheriff’s Association Executive Director David Hinners.
“Law enforcement, as I see it, is a brotherhood or a sisterhood, a lot of us together doing a difficult job,” Hinners told the Washington Examiner.
Hinners, like others, sees such questioning of law enforcement motives as a thinly veiled effort to back the “defund the police” movement, which gained traction among far-left activists in recent years after a series of officer-involved shootings and other incidents left several black Americans dead in major cities.
Democrats in Congress have homed in on the participation by a small group of white supremacists in law enforcement as evidence of a broader, troubling trend facing the country. A recently hired diversity and inclusion adviser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee referred to U.S. Capitol Police officers as “white supremacists” in a now-deleted tweet.
“The answer to white supremacists storming the Capitol is not to give more money to a different group of white supremacists who’s [sic] job it is to uphold white supremacy,” wrote Dyjuan Tatro shortly after the Capitol riot.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, introduced the Congressional Oversight of Unjust Policing Act last month. It seeks to establish a federal commission to investigate ties between law enforcement and extremist groups, with a particular focus on the Capitol Police.
Carrying out warranted investigations into how the Capitol was infiltrated is fair game, said Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes. The problem, however, is making sweeping judgments about all law enforcement.
“I’ve never seen white supremacy. I’m not going to say it’s not possible. It’s just a shame that everyone in law enforcement is finding themselves having to defend themselves from these allegations. It’s not based in reality,” Yoes said.
Even before Jan. 6, House Democrats began holding hearings on “the infiltration of local police” by extremists, featuring remarks by left-wing members of Congress like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Now, far too much of the discussion around the issue of white supremacist infiltration in policing focuses on whether this problem exists at all. And we have known for generations that it is not a question about whether this problem is an issue, it is a matter of how we have allowed it to sustain for so long,” the New York lawmaker said on Sept. 29.
In the wake of the summer’s riots and myriad city councils across the country passing budgets that strip police departments of funding, many law enforcement groups remain defensive over whether any systemic issues exist.
But despite those divisions, many former and current police officers say they just want respect for doing what they believe is an increasingly dangerous job.
“I think law enforcement need support, I don’t care if you’re far left or far right,” Hinners said. “They’re the people who are out there. We don’t care who you are. If you’re a Democrat, we don’t say, ‘Oh, never mind, I’m going home.'”
Increasing violence in cities has created a more uncertain environment for law enforcement, particularly as departments around the country struggle to fill positions.
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More resources and training, law enforcement advocates say, is the solution to a skyrocketing murder rate and civil unrest. Burdening departments with federal investigations will only further weaken ties between the police and local communities, Yoes argued.
“There’s always room to improve our criminal justice system,” he said. “There has to be consensus with everyone involved. We’ve lost our ability to have a meaningful conversation right now because people’s minds are made up.”
