For the third straight night, violent protesters rioted and looters in Philadelphia helped themselves to stolen merchandise as civil unrest threatened to rip the “City of Brotherly Love” apart at the seams. Following a predictable script, demonstrators first took to the streets on Monday in the wake of a fatal police shooting of a man who threatened them with a knife. A curfew has been imposed, and the National Guard mobilized. Just another untethered-from-reality response following an instance of non-compliant criminals injured or killed by cops, sparking the woke mob’s “peaceful protests” of what it insists is evidence of injustice and systemic racism.
We have entered a dangerous new era. Even supposedly sober politicians such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris can publicly mislabel a police action “murder” either before all the facts are in, or even after the Justice Department renders a decision that police actions were justifiable under the law. We are in a heated election season, and the pandering from Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is to be expected. But when he employs woke language in his messages, it is a dog whistle that stirs up anger and resentment.
Dangerous rhetoric has led to police officer assassinations in New York City in 2014, and in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, and Dallas in 2016. Words matter. Unhinged people seek retribution without fully understanding the context or circumstances surrounding an officer-involved shooting. And the press provides saturation coverage of events contributing to availability bias — the mental shortcut we take when inundated with recently provided examples that confirm our suspicions.
Of course, you will be smeared a “racist” for even suggesting that when factoring in disproportionate participation in criminality, unarmed black men and women are not disproportionately victimized by police. Studies actually show that black males, just 6% of the population, represent 42% of all cop-killers. And as criminologist Heather Mac Donald points out: “A cop is 18 ½ times more likely to be killed by a black male than an unarmed black male is to be killed by a cop.”
But in Philadelphia, where two police officers responded to a 911 call of a “man with a knife,” the ignorance of the anti-cop crowd was on full display. When Walter Wallace, Jr., 27, refused to comply with verbal commands and advanced on the cops, they fatally shot him. Apparently, the anti-cop crowd believes we should have expected the police officers, who were not issued Tasers, to have both an M.D. in psychiatry and a Ph.D. in sociology. And in the split-second required to make a consequential life-or-death calculation, the police were somehow supposed to know that Wallace’s menacing while armed with a deadly edged weapon was not an existential threat to them or anyone else.
Contrary to what police critics may insist, knives are deadly weapons and can penetrate ballistic body armor. Each year, there are substantially more homicide victims murdered by an edged weapon than by a rifle. Officers are instructed in de-escalation tactics to buy time through communication and, if necessary, tactical retreat. Yet a knife-wielding attacker can close the distance to an officer quickly, and before the threat can fully be recognized and neutralized.
Yes, politicians cannot be considered experts in every arena. And yes, politicians can utter dumb things and contribute unhealthy rhetoric to the policing debate, including President Trump. But let’s acknowledge that Biden’s recent weigh-ins on police tactics are downright dangerous and contribute mightily by advancing unrealistic expectations, in turn fueling anti-cop hatred.
To wit, last June, while appearing before a black congregation in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden offered this bit of ridiculous advice for police training: “Instead of standing there and teaching a cop when there’s an unarmed person coming at them with a knife or something, shoot them in the leg instead of in the heart.”
He famously double-downed on this absurd advice during an ABC Town Hall two weeks ago.
It makes one wonder how his campaign lacks the requisite diversity and inclusion to include a single, sober, experienced former law enforcement professional to suggest, “Um, Joe, no.”
Police trainees are taught to shoot center mass. They are not comic book characters or Hollywood heroes blessed with the ability to shoot guns from perpetrators’ hands or precisely place a bullet in the fleshy part of thigh not encumbered by the femoral artery — all while under extreme stress during a dangerous encounter. “Shoot them in the leg” is downright laughable stuff if it wasn’t so tragically misinforming and inciting the masses.
You want to argue that threat recognition and identification training needs enhancement? Sure. But officers are not trained or taught to “shoot to wound.” They’re trained to apply lethal force only when they feel their lives, or other innocent lives, are imperiled. Offering silly and unserious solutions to dealing with the mental health crisis, or in combating those bent on “suicide by cop,” will not bridge any divides nor save any lives.
Don’t think Biden’s words matter?
The Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Arnett Woodall, 56, a local community organizer, who lived a few blocks from Wallace, who watched the video, and then announced: “Why not a shot in the leg?”
Ann, who did not want to give her last name, and also resides in the neighborhood, told FM radio station WHYY in Philadelphia: “This is starting to be the new norm. This is how it’s going to be until the cops learn to shoot people in the foot, or tase them, and stop just killing them as soon as they get scared.”
WPVI-TV in Philadelphia interviewed Aisha Williams, who told them: “I don’t think cops should be killing nobody. I think he could have gotten a leg shot, put him down or taze him.”
And another witness at the scene, Maurice Holloway, provided the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia, KYW, his advice for police: “Shoot him in his leg, or not shoot him at all.”
Words matter. Reckless speech has consequences. Anger and resentment stoked by misinformation. Biden should refrain from promoting falsehoods about police tactics. And while he is at it, he should politely remind his running mate, a former state attorney general, to stop referring to a justifiable officer-involved-shooting as “murder.” Their words are disgusting, disgraceful, and dangerous.
James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) worked in the FBI for 25 years. He is a law enforcement analyst for CNN and an adjunct assistant professor in homeland security and criminal justice at St. John’s University. Gagliano is a member of the board of directors of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund.
