David A. Clarke Jr., the Sheriff of Milwaukee County, has taken to Twitter to express his opinions on the protests against police brutality in the wake of several deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of cops.
On Nov. 29, a New York Times reporter tweeted this picture of Ferguson protesters in St. Louis county.
After a man makes popping noises, protesters outside the county courthouse fall to the pavement in a staged "die-in."
Clarke responded, calling them "faux protesters" and saying the media should focus on other issues:
@MitchKSmith If only these faux protestors were asked by media about all the black on black killing or black babies aborted in US every year
Clarke, who is black, has been an outspoken critic of the "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe" protests across the country, demanding justice for Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and others.
Clarke also equated protests with "mob rule" in Milwaukee, where hundreds rallied against the death of Dontre Hamilton, an unarmed and mentally ill black man who was shot to death by a white police officer.
After 74 people were arrested during protests in Milwaukee on Dec. 19, Clarke said this is what "mob rule and mob behavior looks like."
He called the protesters "anarchist groups" who were exploiting Hamilton's death for "their self-serving and selfish needs to create enough chaos to destabilize government functions." Hamilton's family members were part of the protests.
Clarke justified the arrest of the protesters saying, " I think it's important for me, to let people know where the line is, and if they choose to cross it, then we will take appropriate and reasonable measures.
Clarke did not return a message for comment.
Clarke also called Eric Garner's death an "accident." Garner died after he was put in a chokehold by an NYPD officer.
According to CDC, #1 cause of death for Black males 15-34 is murder by other Blacks. #2 cause is accidents. I put Eric Garner under cause 2.
Clarke did not approve of the "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts.
When I see tee shirts saying "I Can't Breathe" I think of how liberal gov policy has its boot on the neck of the Black family.
He wanted NBA players to wear "Police Lives Matter" T-shirts instead of "Black Lives Matter."
Watching NBA players wear BlackLivesMatter tees while cops guard over them is troubling to me. Why not a tee that says PoliceLivesMatter?
He believed that police do not need to be retrained.
There is no need to retrain police in America. We need to retrain politicians on how to end liberal gov policies that crippled Black America
According to Clarke, the number of deaths of black men by police paled in comparison to black on black homicides.
According to CDC in 2012: 140 Blacks killed by police, 386 Whites. Even added together this pales compared to Black on Black homicide totals
He called President Obama and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasion "cop haters."
Pray for survivors of my brothers in blue at NYPD. Can't find it in my heart right now to forgive cop haters like Obama, Holder, De Blasio
He felt Obama played into race stereotypes when he said Trayvon Martin could have been his son.
https://t.co/pVxS99gqy0 When Obama said Trevon Martin looked like a son, he played into the race stereotype that all Black people look alike
He is not a fan of Al Sharpton.
Al Sharpton has ruined more Black minds than has crack cocaine.
Not seeing a weapon on a suspect is "irrelevant" to police action, according to Clarke.
http://t.co/YeCp0bSf87 We make split second decisions. Not seeing hands can be deadly. Not seeing a weapon is irrelevant. Things happen fast
And he did not believe that the U.S. justice system is broken.
Our US system of justice is NOT broken, it's imperfect. No amount of change will make it perfect either. Avoid knee jerk reactions to change