On 6 September, the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) officially announced they will support a convicted felon for president of the United States. Their statement includes, “The FOP is the number one voice of America’s law enforcement. We have a responsibility to our members, to the 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States, and to the communities they serve to do our part in determining the direction in which our country will head.” In so doing, the FOP made it clear they place their personal and institutional allegiance above that of the U.S. Constitution and the American people they are sworn to protect and defend.
While the FOP has previously endorsed several presidential candidates, this is the first time they have supported a convicted felon who is awaiting sentencing on 34 counts and many more pending. Notably they did support Trump after he recommended that they could/should mistreat the unconvicted prisoners in their custody. Remember him telling them not to worry about injuring those they arrest? In Trump world, everyone but him is assumed guilty.
First, the elephant in the room. It appears that the FOP supports rape/rapists and other sexual crimes. This topic has a long history regarding incompetent law enforcement. It is known that police have a long history of discrediting or blaming the victims of sexual assaults. Those are tactics Trump continues to embrace to this day. What is known is that Trump has both been adjudicated of sexual assault and publicly has admitted that he has been sexually assaulting women on multiple occasions. Remember “You can grab’em by the pussy, you can do anything?” Those are comments that should have eliminated him from contention in 2016 but didn’t.
There is much discussion about what constitutes “Rape,” and many people are not aware of the legal requirements for a crime. Note that in 2012 the FBI definition was amended to, “Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.” That definition alone suggests that Trump grabbing “them by the pussy” could easily constitute the crime of rape. Clearly, that is not of concern to the FOP. I do wonder what their female members think about that.
Because of his sexual proclivities, defamation and denigration of women, Donald Trump now owes E. Jean Caroll over ninety million dollars and counting. As recently as Friday, September 6th, Trump was again publicly attacking these women. As he so often does, he denigrated their physical features stating, “I know you’re going to say it’s a terrible thing to say, but it couldn’t have happened, and … she would not have been the chosen one.” That does infer there would have been “a chosen one.” Maybe he was referring to his encounter with Stormy Daniels while Melania was giving birth, which she (Daniels) states was both unwanted but consensual.
Hardly new allegations, The Independent reported, “A full 26 incidents of ‘unwanted sexual contact’ and 43 instances of inappropriate behaviour were detailed in a book, All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator, which drew on over 100 interviews — many exclusive — and added to a list of nearly two dozen women who had previously accused him of sexual assault or misconduct.”
As has been the case for decades, if not centuries, sex crimes are difficult and until recently rarely been a high priority for law enforcement agencies. By endorsing Trump, the FOP has gone out of their way to reinforce that image.
Trump was impeached for inciting an insurrection and the FOP doesn’t care. In so doing they forsake the 140 law enforcement officers that were injured during the violent assault on January 6th, at the U.S. Capitol. The GAO put the number who officially reported injuries at 114 while other reports indicate the number was much higher. As CNN Reported, “In a news conference commemorating the third anniversary of the insurrection, Matthew Graves, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, said it was “likely the largest single-day, mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history.” “One hundred and forty officers guarding the Capitol that day reported physical injury, but we know from talking to the hundreds of officers guarding the Capitol that day that this 140 number undercounts the number of officers who were physically injured, let alone those who have suffered trauma as a result of the day’s events,” Graves said. It seems the FOP is not concerned about the U.S. Constitution though allegiance to such is included in most oaths.
After all of the consternation and criminal trials, Trump has indicated he would pardon the J6 rioters. On Thursday, September 5th, at Trump’s Bedminster New Jersey, Golf Course some Trump supporters planned to throw a fundraising J6 Awards Gala, but it was indefinitely postponed when Trump declined to attend. As Forbes reported. “Trump has historically embraced Jan. 6 defendants, describing many as ‘hostages’ and ‘unbelievable patriots’ who should be freed from prison.” Again, this is what the FOP endorses and their idea of showing solidarity with law enforcement. Of grave concern was that by late January 2021, 52 military members and law enforcement officers had been arrested for their part in the insurrection. More have been identified and added ever since and several incarcerated.
Even after all of the reporting, the FOP appears to discount and find acceptable Trump’s involvement in the insurrection, even though it is likely some of their officers were among those injured because of him. As staunch Republican Liz Cheney famously noted, “Trump ‘summoned the mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack.” Now, the FOP doesn’t care, and they appear to prefer to support crime and criminals.
Trump still faces multiple criminal offenses, some of which there should be no doubt of his guilt. We know he incited the J6 insurrection. We have all seen the stolen classified documents strewn carelessly about in Mar-a-Lago. As a former military officer, I know I would have been at Leavenworth prison long ago had I done anything similar. Unfortunately, his SCOTUS buddies have covered his ass, possibly permanently. Then we heard him ask Brad Raffensberger to find fictious votes for him. He now brazenly claims he had the right to interfere in the elections. – even installing fake electors to be sent to Congress. All this seems permissible with the FOP as they endorse him.
One of the points raised by FOP President Patrick Yoes in their endorsement is that “President Trump made it clear he supported law enforcement and border security.” His support for law enforcement is certainly questionable, but his lack of support for border security is not. Immigration and border security is a complex, multi-generational issue. This year there was a bipartisan, Republican-led bill designed to address many of the issues. It was endorsed by the Border Patrol union. Then former President Trump ordered the Republicans to kill the deal. True to his past record, a narcissist, Trump is far more concerned about himself, than the country or anyone else. Apparently, the FOP agrees with him.
Use of force and police accountability have been thorny issues for a long time. Police unions almost always support an officer’s version of events, even when faced with overwhelming evidence of misdeeds by law enforcement. Only recently has that begun to change, often brought about by body cameras. To be fair, body cameras do not tell the whole story but have been instrumental in bringing cases forward. Conversely, in many, if not most of the situations captured on police body camera’s, it has proven the officer’s version correct and quickly reduced complaints. Those are the millions and millions of situations you never heard about.
As of today, September 7th, there were 710 fatal shootings by police in the US (probably more by the time I finish writing this piece). For 2023 the total was 1163. To be clear, thanks to the Second Amendment crowd (supported by the US Judiciary) we live in a very violent society, many of whom believe the way to settle differences is to shoot their perceived adversary. There are an estimated 466 million guns in the US or 120 for every 100 people. Still the NRA persists in thinking more guns are the solution to gun violence.
We also have a youthful culture who get stoked on violence from TV and movies in which a shootout with police is glorified. Thus, police are often faced with making life-threatening, instantaneous decisions, and based on incomplete information. Unfortunately, many young police officers are taught that the world is violent, and they need to respond accordingly. How often have they heard, “Going home is Job One.” How well did that work out in Uvalde?
As for supporting police violence, remember the person they are endorsing suggested shooting protesters in the legs following the police murder of George Floyd. On a few occasions, crimes are so obvious and horrendous that the conscience of the nation is offended. George Floyd was one of those. Trump’s first instinct was to use Gestapo tactics and bring in federal forces. Use of force is the first choice of authoritarians – and Trump is clearly one of those (and supported by the FOP)
Trump has been a con artist and fraud his entire life. (I highly recommend Confidence Man by Maggie Haberman). His schemes and lawsuits are legendary. High on the list must be the fake Trump University for which Trump in 2017 had to reimburse $25M to nearly four thousand students ending a seven-year legal battle. Others he has scammed and cheated are in the thousands. Many can be found in the thousands of lawsuits filed against him and by him to avoid paying bills. But overt fraud does not appear to be of concern to the FOP nor do the tens of thousands of lies and misleading statements he made in office. (30,573 in four years by one count). Again, the FOP is willing to overlook such endemic issues. Trump is a totally transactional person who will say anything he believes is for his advantage. The FOP seems naïve enough to believe these voluminous lies and still endorse him. That does not bode well for the competence of law enforcement infrastructure of America.
In endorsing Trump, the FOP should also remember they are endorsing a person who actively campaigned for the execution of five innocent men known as the Central Park Five. Even though they have been exonerated and the guilty party convicted, to this day Trump has never apologized. For their years in jail, the falsely indicted men settled with the city for a reported $41M.
This is who Trump is and what the FOP endorses. They have done a great disservice to all law enforcement agencies and the country. In general, law enforcement agencies and members philosophically are very conservative. Many yearn for a return to a time that never was. For many of them times they perceived times were rarely, if ever, great. Memory is immensely fallible, and they fail to consider the lives of others, especially minorities or the LGBT communities. Think about how many people are now claiming they are not better off than they were four years ago. Persuaded by rightwing pundits, they have totally forgotten that in 2020 Covid 19 was at its height, and they were generally restricted in activities and movement. Certainly, they are better off today.
There has been great discussion of bail reform. Few people, even in law enforcement, realize that everyday there are over 400,000 people in, pretrial confinement who have not been convicted of a crime. Yes, many of them are guilty, but still hold the presumption of innocence. Even with reform in some jurisdictions, it is disproportionately the poor who bear the burden. Are mistakes made? Yes, and if you watch Fox News you will hear of all of them.
In the entirety, what this terribly complex situation points to is a major rethinking of what law enforcement is and should be. There have been a number of forward thinkers who have been ringing the alarm for years. There have been a number of police reform acts that have passed Congress and been signed into law. That is a start. To be very clear, there are millions of interactions between police and the citizens that occur every day. The vast majority of them are either requests for services or end quite satisfactorily. It is the remaining tiny percentage that grab the headlines especially on Fox News and other rightwing media outlets that lead their audience to believe that our country is in a major crime crisis. The reality is violent crime is down. What the FOP endorsement exemplifies is the need for a significant cultural change in law enforcement. That is being necessitated by the substantial demographic shifts that have occurred and will continue to occur. As Kamala and the Democrats point out -WE ARE NOT GOING BACK. The FOP wants to go back.
Trump and the RNC are campaigning on fear and grievance (mostly his). They constantly create things for their constituents to fear, but mostly the fear of others- especially if they don’t look like you, come from another place, or pray differently than you do. Trump would have you believe that crime is skyrocketing. For example, in late August Trump claimed crime was up 43% since he left office. That is a lie, but one believed by many. If you believed Tucker Carlson, you can’t go to Kenosha, Wisconsin as it was burned to the ground during the riots following George Floyd’s murder. Yet it still exists. Bottom line is this: If you get your information from FNC, you have little idea of what is really happening in the world around you.
The voluminous evidence points to Patrick Yous and the FOP being amoral or holding positions that are amoral. As “the number one voice of America’s law enforcement,” that is an abysmal condemnation of what is an underpinning segment of American society. Very notably, lifelong Republican Dick Cheney stated, “Trump is the greatest threat ever to the country.” Yet the FOP endorses him.
