BLAME THE BLACK PEOPLE

From the Houston Chronicle:

Ted Cruz blames Obama for death of Harris County sheriff's deputy

“Cops across this country are feeling the assault,” Cruz said in a statement. “They’re feeling the assault from the president, from the top on down, as we see — whether it’s in Ferguson or Baltimore, the response from senior officials, the president or the attorney general, is to vilify law enforcement. That’s wrong. It’s fundamentally wrong. It’s endangering all of our safety and security.”

More here.

It deeply disturbs me that some people, including angry cops, are constructing what I consider to be a false option: we can criticize police violence, or we can have safety for the police, but not both. Indeed, it's a straight up lie: this all but tells us that criticizing the cops under any circumstances is wrong and deadly. I mean, there's a reason we have the term "police state."

It almost goes without saying that this murder is horrifying. But to opportunistically and cynically seize the moment in order to score cheap racist political points is beyond the pale. The Black Lives Matter movement didn't kill this deputy. Their rhetoric didn't kill this deputy. Trying to save lives didn't kill this deputy. It is over-the-top slander to make such an accusation.

Instead, a crazed individual committed this crime, and it is impossible to know at this point the interior workings of his diseased mind--he really is crazed it appears; just today it was reported that he has already spent time in mental facilities for violent behavior. That is, this killer has far less to do with Black Lives Matter, as a movement, than various anti-abortion bombers, murderers, and other terrorists, who are typically cold calculating and sane individuals believing that the end justifies the means, have to do with the pro-life movement. And we still have no idea what his personal motivations were!!!

I am truly saddened and angered by this murder. And now, because of this right-wing reaction, which doesn't amount to much more than "blame black people," I can also say that I am disgusted.

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