The Origins Of The Alleged "Dead Cops" Chant

Several media outlets and public figures say people protesting the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of officers are chanting for "dead cops." Here's where this idea came from.

The months-long national protests against misuse of police force — triggered by a spate of unarmed black men killed by officers who were then not indicted — largely have been peaceful die-ins, walkouts, and marches.

Students, public defenders, football players, and ordinary citizens took part in the the large-scale protests organized by civil rights leaders and action groups. The rallying cries of protesters included "Hands Up, Don't Shoot," "I Can't Breathe," and "Black Lives Matter."

On Dec. 20, two NYPD officers were killed by a man who wrote on Instagram "they take 1 of ours.... Let's take 2 of theirs." And "#RIPEricGarner and #RIPMikeBrown."

NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos

Since then — and to some extent, before then — the idea that protesters advocate for officer deaths has become a subject of debate.

On Dec. 28: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a former prosecutor who casts himself as tough on crime, said on CBS's Face the Nation that protesters are "horrible" for "yelling 'kill the police, kill the police.'"

And on Dec. 21, Republican Rep. Peter King of Long Island blamed New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for not denouncing “thousands of demonstrators chanting they wanted dead cops, they wanted dead cops now.”

Dec. 23: Media writer Dan Gainor referenced a "dead cops" chant, saying, "the same sentiment spread on Twitter as some were gleeful about the murders" in a recent USA Today column.

Dec. 16: Michael Goodwin, a New York Post columnist and Fox News contributor, wrote about the "hundreds if not thousands in Manhattan caught on tape chanting, 'What do we want?' and answering: 'Dead cops.'"

Nov. 25: Blogger Michelle Malkin accused Obama of saying “nothing about the murderous strain of racial animus against America’s men and women in blue.”

The basis for these commentaries — and the idea that the majority of protesters advocate for dead officers — is a viral video and online radical groups who don't identify with the larger protesters.

It largely began with this video, uploaded to YouTube on Dec. 13 by user "Carswell Lightnose," where about 100 New York City protesters sound like they are chanting, "What do we want? Dead cops." It has garnered at least 400,00 views.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

The group was presumably part of the Million March NYC protest that took place on the same day in New York.

Lightnose told the Daily Beast that while he could not identify which group the protesters were affiliated with, he saw that they were carrying a banner that read, "No Cops No Prisons."

The video, at most, showed around a few hundred protesters marching down the street, and not "thousands of demonstrators," as Rep. Peter King described.

Another instance came in August, where protesters were documented yelling "kill the police" in the hours after Michael Brown was shot dead by officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri.

From the Aug. 10 Associated Press report:

A spokesman with the St. Louis County Police Department, which is investigating the shooting at the request of the local department, confirmed a Ferguson police officer shot the man. The spokesman didn't give the reason for the shooting. St. Louis County police said a large crowd confronted officers following the shooting, yelling such things as "kill the police."

The "dead cops" chant seems to originate with a group called the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee (TMOC), the Daily Beast reported.

The group's tweets and posts indicate its contempt for police officers, often referred to as "pigs," as well as peaceful protesters.

"peaceful protest" is just another form of collaboration w the pigs' violence #turnuptheanger #MillionsMarchNYC

A statement posted by a TMOC member says, "We envision a world where the police are abolished."

Facebook: tmocnyc

TMOC was also responsible for a #TurnUpTheAnger contingent within the Millions March NYC on Dec. 13.

The "No Cops No Prisons" banner that was in the YouTube "dead cops" chant video was also seen with the Turn Up For Anger contingent.

#TurnUpTheAnger contingent is on the streets of #NYC for #EricGarner! #ICantBreathe #MillionsMarchNYC #ThisStopsToday

Red and black flags, visible in the video, were also part of the group's protest.

#TurnUpTheAnger contingent chanting "Cops, Pigs! #Murderers!" #MillionsMarchNYC #NYC #ICantBreathe #ThisStopsToday

Apart from TMOC, there are a handful of other small-scale radicalized online groups such as "Generation Zero," which refers to its members as "ultras" — "an association of antagonists, young, angry and disciplined."

On Dec. 21, the ultras' Twitter account, which has 238 followers, posted a celebratory cartoon with the words "Officer Down."

Similar groups such as New York Year Zero appear to advocate violence against the police but do not seem to actively organize independent protests against them.

Apart from these groups, anti-police activists and trolls on Twitter use memes and hashtags to promote their agenda.

#idiots who deny "Kill cops" signs/memes exist. YOU are all complicit today. Just a few examples #NYPDLivesMatter

Hashtags such as #killcops and #ShootThePolice are employed by a faction of Twitter users who have anywhere between a few hundred to a thousand followers. They're largely not endorsed by the main protest movement.

#ShootThePolice, a movement originally intended to record police brutality, was co-opted by online radicals and trolls after the gunman who shot two NYPD officers posted threats using the hashtag.

Another threat to kill cops on Social Media. #CopsLivesMatter #NYPDLivesMatter #NYPDShooting

Anti-police Facebook groups and pages have been reported or removed, while Instagram has disabled search for hashtags such as #ShootThePolice.

#Facebook changed their mind and banned one #killcops site

A headline on the front page of BuzzFeed described the chant of "dead cops" as a "myth." In fact, marchers appearing to chant those words appear on a YouTube video embedded in this post.

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