Massachusetts police chiefs wrote a pointed letter to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) after the presidential candidate peddled the false “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” narrative last week and accused acquitted former officer Darren Wilson of “murdering” Michael Brown.
Warren – along with a slew of 2020 Democrat candidates – posted a tweet last week in commemoration of Michael Brown, whose death sparked violent riots in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.
“[Five] years ago Michael Brown was murdered by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri,” Warren claimed.
“Michael was unarmed yet he was shot 6 times,” she continued. “I stand with activists and organizers who continue the fight for justice for Michael. We must confront systemic racism and police violence head on”:
5 years ago Michael Brown was murdered by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael was unarmed yet he was shot 6 times. I stand with activists and organizers who continue the fight for justice for Michael. We must confront systemic racism and police violence head on.
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) August 9, 2019
The Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association slammed Warren’s “reckless” remarks in a letter Tuesday.
“Your reckless tweet will only serve to create hatred towards Police Officers and place them in danger of more assaults and perhaps death,” Hamilton Police Chief Russell Stevens wrote in the letter.
“Having had two Police Officers murdered in your own state, in the past 18 months, we expect our elected Officials to condemn the murder and assaults of Police Officers,” he continued.
“Instead on multiple occasions, you choose to fan the fires of divide for your own political gains. Shame on you!” he added.
As stated in the letter, officers worry that Warren’s rhetoric will lead to more violence against police officers:
The Boston Herald reports:
“This is about one issue: I don’t want to see another officer unnecessarily murdered. It’s that simple,” Yarmouth police Chief Frank G. Frederickson told the Herald. “This hurts, and every chief feels the same way.”
One of Frederickson’s officers, Sgt. Sean Gannon, 32, was killed in Barnstable in April 2018 while while trying to serve an arrest warrant on a career criminal. Three months later, Weymouth police officer Michael Chesna, 42, was killed in the line of duty while chasing down a suspect who also killed an elderly woman.
“This is not about politics. This is about standing up for our officers,” Frederickson said.
Brown was shot by Officer Wilson in 2014 after charging him and attempting to take his gun. His death triggered outrage in Ferguson and across the country, with activists asserting that Wilson used excessive force and claiming that Brown had his hands up. The autopsy report, however, corroborated Wilson’s story, suggesting that “Brown did indeed attempt to take Wilson’s gun, that Wilson shot him in the hand over it, and that Brown charged Wilson with his hands down,” Breitbart News reported.
The Department of Justice, then led by Obama appointee Eric Holder, also concluded that Wilson acted in self-defense.
The 2015 DOJ memo read in part:
There is no credible evidence to refute Wilson’s stated subjective belief that he was acting in self-defense. As discussed throughout this report, Wilson’s account is corroborated by physical evidence and his perception of a threat posed by Brown is corroborated by other credible eyewitness accounts.
A fact check from the Washington Post gave Warren and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who also accused Wilson of murder, four Pinocchios.
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