Alabama sheriff: Anti-cop rhetoric from Obama, media ‘contributing’ to police killings

LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. — In the wake of the latest police shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sheriff Mike Blakely took to Facebook to vent.

We are saddened by the recent senseless killings of our fellow officers in Dallas, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

I can no longer stand by silently as our brothers are murdered, while the president, many of our national leaders, and many in the media continue to contribute to these killings with their rhetoric and emotional rush to judgement every time an officer kills a suspect, before critical relevant facts are known about each case.

I call on President Obama and every other leader who has made uninformed or presumptuous incendiary statements about law enforcement, in an effort to generate public outrage for personal political gain, to retract their statements and apologize for their rush to judgement in many of the recent incidents involving law enforcement where suspects have been killed.

I call on all our leaders to seek truth over personal gain.

In a Facebook post after the Dallas police shootings, Sheriff Blakely also gave some insight into what it is like to serve in law enforcement.

Unfortunately in our society there are those who prey on the innocent. There are those who steal, who injure, who kill, who target our children and the elderly. We deal every day with the darkness that you don’t often see. We stand ready to respond in your moment of fear. We share in that moment when you return home and feel violated as you realize someone has broken into your home. We are there with you when you lose a loved one to senseless violence. We do our best to preserve life and property, including that of those who would do others harm. We are by no means perfect, but we must remain peacemakers, even when our own blood boils. We accept that we must hold ourselves to a higher standard to maintain your trust, and we cherish and protect that trust.

Sheriff Blakely went on to express “the need for unity in a world where divisiveness and hate are so pervasive,” and urged citizens to air their grievances with the police in appropriate ways.

When a citizen is approached by a law enforcement officer who is merely responding to a call for service, and that citizen feels like the officer’s actions are unjustified or unprofessional, resisting or challenging that officer on the street is neither a proper nor effective way to air that grievance. The proper avenue is to file a complaint with your sheriff or chief, or to address the issue in court.