# Former Holyoke Chief Criticizes Obama and Race Relations



## PPD54 (Apr 28, 2011)

I have been putting off writing this op-ed piece for the past several months hoping in vain that our President and Attorney Eric Holder would become real leaders and not continue down the racist road they have been traveling. However the most recent police murders in New York City have prompted me to break my silence. I did not vote for President Obama when he first ran nor did I vote for him in 2012. When he was first elected I hoped that as a person of color he would move race relations forward and become a good, if not great, president. Needless to say I was wrong as the undeniable evidence soon began to mount. I am a person of color and a retired member of the law enforcement community. I took notice of his inaction towards the violence within his home city of Chicago and what I believe to be his stealth contempt of law enforcement.

In July of 2009 President Obama said that the police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, "acted stupidly" in arresting a prominent black Harvard professor after a confrontation at the professor's home. Even though President Obama had no facts on which to base his statement he still blamed the officer and not the Harvard professor and concluded the officer "acted stupidly." When confronted with his off-the-cuff words and actions regarding the officer, he called his famous "Beer Summit" to walk back his rash statement.

I am a person of color and a retired member of the law enforcement community. I took notice of his inaction towards the violence within his home city of Chicago and what I believe to be his stealth contempt of law enforcement.
In July of 2013 President Obama said as it related to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, "You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it's important to recognize that the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away." This was another opportunity for the President to bring people together but his remarks created a wider gap between the races.

Subsequently, the President released his political attack dog Attorney General Holder on the police with his 'federal judicial investigative civil rights hammer' where law enforcement actions were seen as nails. The same Mr. Holder, the nation's chief law enforcement officer, who refused to prosecute the Black Panthers for documented intimidation of voters during the presidential re-election campaign; The same Mr. Holder who refused to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Internal Revenue Service; The same Mr. Holder who has been held in contempt of Congress; The same Mr. Holder who refused to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate both Fast and Furious and the terrorist attack at Benghazi.

In August 2014 Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in the performance of his duty. President Obama said, "The death of Michael Brown is heartbreaking, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to his family and his community at this very difficult time. As Attorney General Holder has indicated, the Department of Justice is investigating the situation along with local officials, and they will continue to direct resources to the case as needed. I know the events of the past few days have prompted strong passions, but as details unfold, I urge everyone in Ferguson, Missouri, and across the country, to remember this young man through reflection and understanding. We should comfort each other and talk with one another in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds. Along with our prayers, that's what Michael and his family, and our broader American community deserve." The President expressed his condolences to the family of Brown but not once did he give reference to the family of Officer Darren Wilson who were going through some very difficult times dealing with threats upon their lives. This was another lost opportunity on the part of the President to bring the races together.

The President, Eric Holder, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the mainstream media and others seemed to disregard the ELEPHANT in the room which was that Michael Brown had just committed a crime. Only minutes before Brown's confrontation with Officer Darren Wilson he robbed a convenience store and intimidated the smaller owner with his large size, 6 feet 5 inches tall and over 280 pounds. The facts presented to the Ferguson Grand Jury which included statements by people of color, supported Officer Wilson's version of what occurred.

President Obama, speaking from the White House asked local law enforcement to "take care and restraint in managing the peaceful protests that occur." The President further said, "As they [police officers] do their jobs in the coming days, they need to work with the community, not against the community, to distinguish the handful of people who may use the grand jury's decision as an excuse for violence&#8230; " President Obama said, "To distinguish them from the vast majority who just want their voices heard around legitimate issues, in terms of communities and law enforcement react." The President, as a lawyer, lost another opportunity to bring the races together, support the judicial system by supporting the established grand jury system and the rule of law. Instead he chided the police to use control and did not ask the community to work with the police to control the violence.

Neither the President nor Attorney General Holder acknowledge the number of police officers killed in the line of duty protecting the lives and property of citizens within high crime areas. These high crime areas predominately in black neighborhoods deserve and receive increased police coverage due to the high rate of violent crime and crime in general. If these neighborhoods did not receive police protection there would have been loud and sustained outcries demanding to know where the police are when needed, particularly in the Chicago area where innocent young black children are being killed daily by stray bullets from organized gangs composed of young black men who lurk in the streets armed with heavy firepower. A significant number of these police officers are killed by black assailants and yet there is no rioting, store burning, and large traffic obstructing disorderly marches protesting the deaths of these officers at the hands of black criminals. There is no word from the White House or Attorney General Holder decrying the senseless deaths of these officers or a call to their loved ones from the President expressing his concern for their loss.

A new Bloomberg Politics poll indicates that a majority of Americans believe that race relations have gotten worse under the Obama presidency. Bloomberg: "President Barack Obama had hoped his historic election would ease race relations, yet a majority of Americans, 53 percent, say the interactions between the white and black communities have deteriorated since he took office, according to a new Bloomberg Politics poll."

During the ongoing rhetoric from President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder, Mayor William de Blasio, the Right Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse Jackson and the calls of "What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!!!" by the protesters in the streets; two New York City police officers were murdered. Please note for the record that one of the officers was Hispanic and the other Asian. What did the President do? President Obama issued a press release while remaining on his vacation in Hawaii. His cohorts, New York City Mayor de Blasio and the Right Reverend Al Sharpton came out personally and made statements condemning the cowardly act even though the majority of Americans did not believe the Mayor or the Right Reverend. Many Americans believe as do I that President Obama, Mayor de Blasio, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., the Right Reverend Sharpton and others have incited acts of violence against police officers with their rhetoric instead of placing the blame where it should be; on the heads and hands of black parents and those black leaders who wish to blame others for their failures as parents and leaders........

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_*Anthony R. Scott* is former Holyoke chief of police

http://www.masslive.com/opinion/ind...ef_obama_created_mistrust.html#incart_m-rpt-1_


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