The recent sentencing of six Mississippi police officers known as the ‘Goon Squad’ for the torture, sexual assault, and maiming of two black men would be condoned if Donald Trump were to get back in the Oval Office. The acquittal of police officer Jeronimo Yanez for the killing of Philando Castile or the killing of Breonna Taylor in her underwear in her home with no accountability was not egregious enough for former President Donald Trump’s liking. He has been on the campaign trail advocating for the complete indemnification of police officers. He is not talking about caveats or specifics, but just as he told Vladimir Putin, do “whatever the hell [they] want.” Like most things in Donald Trump’s life, his recent pronouncement is about him.
In a New Hampshire rally, Trump vowed to investigate prosecutors who hold police officers accountable for violating their oath, saying he doesn’t like ‘their illegal, racist-in-reverse enforcement of the law.’ In addition, he played to the cheering crowd, stating:
“I am also going to indemnify our police officers. This is a big thing, and it’s a brand new thing, and I think it’s so important. I’m going to indemnify, through the federal government, all police officers and law enforcement officials throughout the United States from being destroyed by the radical left for taking strong actions against crime,”Trump exhorted.
What Mr. Trump failed to acknowledge is that the police have protections that some would say contribute to the outrageous attitudes of, say, Derek Chauvin, who publicly choked the life out of George Floyd. According to the National Criminal Justice Association, police officers are already immune to financial recourse, which shieldsofficers accused of misconduct from lawsuits seeking damages. In most jurisdictions, lawsuits are paid by the municipalities, interpret that as the taxpayers. The twisted irony of that is that you may be paying for your mistreatment should you have a run-in with the police. Most of Trump’s musings on police reform often are tinged with a racial element that cannot be ignored. His racism dates back to the Central Park Five. The five young men of color were called to be executed by Trump in ads placed in four New York newspapers, including the New York Times, costing 85,000 dollars; the men were later fully exonerated.
Trump fought against Native American ownership of casinos in 1993, questioning their legitimacy, saying, “They don’t look like Indians to me, and they don’t look like Indians to Indians, and a lot of people are laughing at it,”Trump said of the Mashantucket Pequots. Mr. Trump is the worst kind of modern racist, one willing to denigrate and even kill to his benefit. His attacks on Barack Obama's citizenship were his foray into a base of gullible bigots that, to this day, are his primary base of support. Descending his golden escalator declaring brown people as rapists and murderers was the basis of his candidacy for president. His outlandish support of lawlessness by police officers is a shrouded appeal for his personal immunity. He says, “They are not after me, they are after you,” as a mind-meld trick that works with his base.
Convincing his supporters that they are in danger of being held accountable by the “un-select committee” or “ crooked Joe Biden” is a trick long used by cult leaders—It is not my sin but our sins. The use of police indemnification is the latest victim of his sleight of hand, or mind in this case. Any crime he has committed is for you, he wants his followers to think. Deaths, insurrection, extortion, fraud, and rape are sacrifices for his supporters, not crimes. Jim Jones convinced hundreds to drink the Flavor Aid laced with cyanide, and David Koresh convinced his followers to burn alive with their children. As part of his racist screeds, Mr. Trump tells his masses that immigrants are poisoning the blood of America. In reality, he has poisoned the ideas of integrity and honor and confused the country’s moral compass, blurring right from wrong because it benefits him.
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