MONTGOMERY — During his speech to the River Region Republican Club on Tuesday, former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville commented on two viral videos showing New York City Police Department officers being doused with water and having objects thrown at them.

“It’s disgusting!” — Outrage is growing after viral videos show people drenching NYPD officers with water. | @CarleyShimkus pic.twitter.com/c9eJZEpfH3

— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) July 23, 2019

Tuberville said incidents like these are indicative of America’s societal and cultural problems.

“One area that I’m very disappointed in, and all you have to do — there was a deal on YouTube and Twitter of these two policemen in New York harassed by kids pouring water on them,” Tuberville said. “They (the officers) couldn’t do anything about it. ”

The Republican U.S. Senate candidate lamented how law enforcement officials like the NYPD officers are treated across the nation.

“There’s no respect for our law enforcement. None,” he decried. “They make very little money. They put a gun on their [hip], a badge on their chest and a uniform [on] every day. They don’t make $50,000 a year and go out there and protect us.”

“We’ve got to help get that respect back for our law enforcement. Because freedom is not free,” Tuberville emphasized.

“Those guys go out there every day,” he continued. “If we lose them — I’ve talked to sheriffs, I’ve talked to police chiefs in this state, and they can’t hire anybody. Nobody wants to do it. Can you blame them? Can you blame them? Because they’re not being respected. They’re being spit on. They’re being laughed at. They have stuff thrown at them. We have lost — respect is gone in this country. And it’s because we took God out of the schools in the mid ’60’s. That’s where it all started.”

Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn