BAD BADGES
By Cash Michaels
The largest police union in the nation admits to being MAGA!
That is not at all comforting to me, and nor should it be to anyone who truly believes in freedom and justice.
When I encounter a law enforcement officer, I shouldn’t, among other things, worry what his or her politics are. Quite frankly, that should be none of my damn business.
But now, thanks to their enthusiastic endorsement of Donald Trump recently in Charlotte by the National Fraternal Order of Police (NFOP), the next time a cop stops me for anything, it very much IS my damn business!
Now let’s be clear about something - do I support good police officers, and the tough, tough job they have to do in our communities to make them safe? Absolutely!
The earnest young men and women who put on the uniform everyday, and leave home…leave their families, not knowing whether they will be returning that evening, or the next morning, let alone returning at all - yes I support them, and always have.
It can be either a thankless job, or a fruitful vocation. It depends what an officer’s attitude is about him or herself, and the people he or she is supposed to be sworn to serve and protect. Honest officers. I believe there are still some left. I pray they're in the majority.
Take it from a reporter who has covered my share of police stories through the years, especially in the Black community. Folks depend on the police, and they want desperately to trust the police, because they need to know that the constables on patrol (aka cops) are always on the job when they need them most.
So when I read this recent mess from Charlotte: FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE ENDORSES TRUMP BEFORE HIS CHARLOTTE SPEECH, I felt my sick to my stomach.
You see, again, I’m one of those old-timers who believes that the majority of law enforcement officers are good people, and thus, deserve respect for the tough job that they do.
The common sense rational behind that thinking is that you never know when you need one if you find yourself in the kind of trouble you’re simply not prepared to handle yourself.
But now, we’ve got the 377,000-member NFOP - through their president, Patrick Yoes, telling the annual convention in Charlotte Sept. 6th, that support from member officers was “overwhelming” for their Trump endorsement.
“Our members carefully considered the positions of the candidates on the issues and there was no doubt—zero doubt—as to who they want as our President for the next four years: Donald J. Trump,” Yoes bellowed.
"During his time at the White House, we had a partner and a leader.”
“Today. Mr President, we stand with you.”
And this from NFOP’s official announcement - “The FOP is the number one voice of America’s law enforcement. We have a responsibility to our members, to the 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States, and to the communities they serve to do our part in determining the direction in which our country will head.”
Finally, before I completely crap all over myself here, this from the NFOP’s Second Vice Pres. John Hoyt -
“An endorsement from the National FOP will greatly enhance the legitimacy and credibility of the chosen nominee. In a time where voter trust is a crucial factor, our endorsement would signal to the public that the candidate is a trustworthy and capable leader. This endorsement will be particularly influential for undecided voters who look to our organization for guidance and validation.”
Hey, NFOP, the man is a crazy, CONVICTED felon and a megalomaniac, and if it wasn’t for his unhinged and unpatriotic actions on January 6th, 2021, five brave U.S. Capitol and Washington, D.C. Metro police officers wouldn’t be dead in their graves today. Have you forgotten about them? What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you, for the third time since the 2016 election, aligning yourself with someone who is arguably seen as an unhinged looming threat to our democracy?
Unless that’s what you want us to think of YOU cops as well.
I mean top members of Trump's own past administration - people who actually worked for, or with the man - now refuse to have anything to do with him, let alone endorse him
for a second term. Retired military leaders have even signed a letter opposing Trump's re-election, saying he's a threat to national security.
Hell, Dick and daughter Liz Cheney, two hardcore right-wingers, say the same thing.
But the NFOP calls Trump a "trustworthy and capable" leader? Are you kidding me?
The nut has Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating dogs and cats, putting innocent people in danger with racist lies! Is that "trustworthy and capable" to you?
And get this - not only is it crazy nuts to get in political bed with this CONVICTED criminal, but it’s even more insane to do so when he openly lies about the job cops are doing.
We’ve all heard it by now - Trump wants us all to believe that America under Biden-Harris is nothing but a cesspool of crime. That crime is up everywhere, and the average American street is not safe to walk down. Effectively, he saying YOU police aren't doing YOUR jobs.
Well guess who disagrees with that bull besides every fact-checker on planet Earth?
The NFOP!
Quote from the Sept. 6th “NFOP endorses Trump” press release:
"During his first term, President Trump made it clear he supported law enforcement and border security. In the summer of 2020, he stood with us when very few would. With his help, we defeated the ‘defund the police’ movement and, finally, we are seeing crime rates decrease. If we want to maintain these lower crime rates, we must re-elect Donald Trump.”
So even though Trump and NFOP don’t agree on the state of crime in the U.S., the NFOP - which has only endorsed one Democrat for president, Bill Clinton since 1996 - still supports Trump in 2024. That smells big time!
And for the record, NFOP did not support anyone for president in 2012. Guess Obama and Mitt Romney were too liberal for them.
Quite frankly, even though the NFOP is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit, I wish they were not allowed to endorse anybody, because their membership are supposed to be public servants. In my view, their job is to serve and protect no matter who the president or governor or mayor is.
Of course every police officer is entitled to their own political beliefs and choices, but that doesn’t mean I have to know about them.
When the NFOP Trump endorsement was announced, at least 100 law enforcement officers across America publicly disapproved, including Durham County Sheriff Clarence Birkhead.
True, he’s supporting VP Harris for president, but again, that’s not something I feel I need to know.
The only thing I should assume if I encounter Sheriff Birkhead is “this is a good man and good officer and he’ll treat me fairly” and give him the requisite respect accordingly, not, “ Hey, he supports Kamala, so homeboy will let me slide on that ticket I otherwise can’t talk myself out of.”
Politics should not define how we interact with our law enforcement. Period!
And yes, I said “our,” because every cop on the beat, or on the street, or anywhere taxpayer dollars provide for, is working for US, and is accountable to US.
All 708,000 of them as of 2022 in the United States.
NFOP, by endorsing the well-known criminal Trump for president, you’ve signaled that the very laws you are sworn to uphold in our nation mean NOTHING to you! Your endorsement also clearly signals that if Trump were to win the presidency again, and ordered your 377,000 members to also break the law when it comes to policing citizens, like when he suggested back in 2017 that officers should deliberately allow a suspect's head to ram into the door opening of a squad car after they've been handcuffed and read their rights, you might very well do it! After all, once he said it, the New York cops hearing it did laugh, and enthusiastically applaud.
That was seven years ago after he was first elected, and it still makes me very nervous.
NFOP's first two Trump endorsements also made Blacks in Law Enforcement of America nervous in 2020. They had several dues paying members in the group, and they called your support of him an “outrage.”
Imagine what they think now.
There have been individual police injustices in the past and present - George Floyd and Sonya Massey come to mind - that have hinted at a dangerous right-wing culture that people of color in particular have to be always cognizant of, but now the largest police union in the nation has unabashedly signed on to become the devil’s MAGA paratroopers.
Should I keep a watchful eye out now for new “stop & frisk” policies to go into effect if Trump is reelected? Or cops breaking down my door in the middle of the night because page 107 of the Project 2025 handbook says police should routinely punish journalists like me who stand without fear against your crazy CONVICTED leader?
The man has lost his mind, NFOP, and wants to be a dime store dictator. You saw his unhinged behavior at the last debate with VP Harris. Or do you approve of that kind of warped, unpresidential behavior? Apparently, and sadly, you do.
Don’t waste your time calling my number, or sending me solicitation messages by email or snail mail ever again, NFOP. As far as I’m concerned, you DO NOT represent the true blue officers of the law I look to with respect in this society.
NFOP, I refuse to believe you and your members are this dumb. This is clearly something else, something that tells me you can't be trusted under any circumstances!
You’re nothing but a bunch of corrupt MAGA bad badges now, and you’ll soon discover that linking up with an insane CONVICTED criminal for president will be your undoing in history.
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