Cops as Whiny-Ass Titty Babies

Construction, fishing and farming are more dangerous than law enforcement, but you don't hear those workers demanding they be protected from the horrible fate of being publicly criticized.

Think Progress:

On Saturday night, four off-duty Minneapolis police officers walked off their jobs working security at a WNBA Lynx game when the players wore T-shirts with the phrase “Black Lives Matter” and held a press conference focusing on healing the divide between law enforcement and the black community.

The president of the Minneapolis Police Federation, Lt. Bob Kroll, praised the action of the officers. “I commend them for it,” he said, as reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune.

The players decided to wear the shirts after having in-depth discussions at practice during a week that saw two black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, murdered by police and five police officers killed in Dallas. Castile was killed in the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights.

During warm-ups, the Lynx players all donned shirts with the message “Change Starts With Us — Justice and Accountability” on the front. The back of the shirt featured the names of Castile and Sterling, the phrase, “Black Lives Matter,” and, notably, the Dallas Police Department shield.

“In the wake of the tragedies that have continued to plague our society, we have decided it is important to take a stand and raise our voices,” co-captain Rebekkah Brunson told reporters in a pre-game news conference. “Racial profiling is a problem. Senseless violence is a problem. The divide is way too big between our community and those who have vowed to protect and serve us.”

PZ Myers responded that police who don't believe in justice and accountability should be fired: 

I have to ask, what offended them? Justice? Or accountability? Or possibly it was that the names of two dead black men were listed on the back. Please be specific, Minneapolis police. Perhaps you could suggest some edits that would make acknowledging injustice and a lack of accountability palatable to you.

Meanwhile, the national effort to swaddle law enforcement in cotton wool while criminalizing First Amendment protest speeds up and gets stupider:

 

In the wake of the killing of six officers in Dallas last Thursday, legislators across the country are considering bills to offer hate crime protections to cops. Two so-called “Blue Lives Matter” bills have already been announced since the mass shooting, modeled after the law passed in Louisiana this year. But instead of making police safer, the bills may have the consequence of criminalizing protesters and groups that are already targeted by law enforcement.

In May, Louisiana became the first state to expand its hate crime protections to include police and emergency personnel. To the disappointment of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and advocates of the First Amendment, the first-of-its-kind Blue Lives Matter law enhanced the penalties for people who attack or threaten cops in the state, effectively lumping a profession into the same category as fixed or perceived traits like race, gender, and religion. When it goes into effect in three weeks, it could be put to the test right away in Baton Rouge, where protesters have taken to the streets in response to the shooting of Alton Sterling.

On Sunday, people gathered in the streets were met with police in military gear and tanks. At least one officer was filmed pointing a gun at protesters. Officers also made at least 100 arrests during the mass demonstrations, locking up peaceful protesters including activist DeRay Mckesson.

It remains to be seen if the law will have its desired effect of making police safer, but Blue Lives Matter bills that treat police like vilified minorities may gain traction in other parts of the country, following the deadly attack on officers in Dallas. And that means the people demanding an end to police violence in places like Baton Rouge could have an ever bigger target on their backs for exercising their First Amendment rights.