,
19 tweets,
2 min read
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1. I’d like to talk for a minute, from the heart, about police/law enforcement. In various tweets that I make providing info or opinion on
2. extremism, etc., I frequently have occasion to mention law enforcement. All too often, when I do, I see responses that denigrate law
3. enforcement, saying highly negative things about all police officers, claiming that law enforcement is racist or even white supremacist,
4. and more. These claims frustrate and sadden me. I do not think they accurately or fairly represent the men & women of law enforcement in
5. this country. There are nearly 900k police officers in the U.S. That means some will inevitably be bad apples, inc. apples that might
6. even be extremist, as well as even the occasional bad unit or department. I also acknowledge institutional & other problems w/in law
7. enforcement more generally, including the undeniable problem regarding deadly force & police shootings, an issue that has concerned me
8. personally since Nov 2006. Having said that, I must also say that my professional life has been inextricably linked with law enforcement—
9. federal, state, local--& the overwhelming majority of those interactions have been positive ones involving officers/agents seeking to
10. protect their communities from extremist violence. I would not be tweeting to you today if it were not for law enforcement officers,
11. who after the Oklahoma City bombing saw my Militia Watchdog writings & asked me to join them in training other law enforcement officers
12. on domestic terrorism issues. Law enforcement was responsible for my professional entry into the realm of fighting hate and extremism.
13. Over the past 20+ yrs, I've known officers who risked their lives in undercover investigations of white supremacist groups. I have met
14. officers who lost their fellow officers to white supremacists, sovereigns, & militia. I know one officer who lost his own son that way.
15. I have witnessed countless officers doggedly working on hate crimes, terrorism & other extremist investigations--& seen their pride &
16. happiness when they succeed. And I am proud—extremely proud—that I've trained over 17k officers on hate, extremism & terrorism issues.
17. Most of those trainings were at the *invitation* of law enforcement. The fact is that law enforcement is a great ally to have in the
18. fight against hate & extremism—and it pains me to see ppl attack men & women they do not know & whose work against hate/extremism they
19. have never seen. But I have seen that work and I can tell you that we would all be a lot worse off without it. A lot worse.
