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By Miriam Raftery
Photo: Screenshot, the Washington Post
July 30, 2017 (San Diego) -- Law enforcement leaders across the nation are denouncing remarks made by President Donald Trump that critics say encourages police brutality. View video of Trump’s remarks.
Here is what President Trump said while speaking to law enforcement officers at Suffolk County Community College in New York:
“When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over? Like, don’t hit their head, and they just killed somebody — don’t hit their head,” Trump continued. “I said, you can take the hand away, okay?”
The Suffolk County Police Department issued a statement afterwards making clear that it “will not tolerate roughing up of prisoners.”
Locally, Sheriff candidate Dave Myers issued this statement. “Sheriff Gore has been, but I’m not staying silent. Our police officers are strong civil servants and they deserve better leadership at the top. This harmful rhetoric puts our deputies in danger while serving their communities.” Myers is a commander in the Sheriff’s department with 32 years of experience in law enforcement.
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, told radio station WTOP “The last thing we need is a green light from the president of the United States for officers to use unnecessary force.”
The President’s remarks arguably were a crime under New York law:
"A person is guilty of inciting to riot when one urges ten or more persons to engage in tumultuous and violent conduct of a kind likely to create public alarm." § 240.08 of the N.Y. Penal Law.
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