JUNE 10, 2020 BY MICHAEL STONE
The truth hurts: New York Police Union President Mike O’Meara is angry because people are actually reporting on and protesting against police brutality.
Newsweek reports:
New York Police Benevolent Association Mike O’Meara railed against the way the New York Police Department had been treated by the media and lawmakers in a Tuesday news conference.
Protests against the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police officers have occurred in New York City… NYPD officers were caught on video acting violently towards protesters. Incidents allegedly provoked by NYPD officers include shoving protesters, using pepper spray on peaceful protesters and driving a police vehicle into a crowd of Brooklyn protesters.
At the news conference, O’Meara complained that “the press is vilifying us,” and “everybody’s trying to shame us,” while pleading “stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect!”
O’Meara said:
Everybody’s trying to shame us. The legislators. The press. Everybody’s trying to shame us into being embarrassed about our profession. Well, you know what? This [badge] isn’t stained by someone in Minneapolis. It’s still got a shine on it, and so do theirs, so do theirs.
Stop treating us like animals and thugs, and start treating us with some respect! That’s what we’re here today to say. We’ve been left out of the conversation. We’ve been vilified. It’s disgusting. It’s disgusting.
Nobody talks about the number of police that were killed last week in America, and there were a number of them. We don’t condone Minneapolis. We roundly reject what he did as disgusting. It’s disgusting! It’s not what we do. It’s not what police officers do.
Our legislators abandoned us. The press is vilifying us. Well, you know what guys, I’m proud to be a cop and I’m going to continue to be proud to be a cop until the day I retire. And that’s all I have to say.
O’Meara’s complaints ring hollow. The irony of New York cops asking for “respect” and not to be treated like “animals and thugs” cannot be overlooked, given the deplorable history of the police department consistently treating people of color like “animals and thugs.”
The following is a sample of reactions to O’Meara’s pathetic rant via Twitter:
Bottom line: New York Police Union President Mike O’Meara is angry because people are actually reporting on and protesting against police brutality.
