Sheriff David Clarke, Milwaukee County’s tough-talking, outspoken law enforcement official, called the NAACP an irrelevant “propaganda” tool for the political left and said it was frequently the “behavior of black men,” not racial injustice, that was the cause of much police-community consternation nowadays.
He made the comments during an interview on “Fox & Friends” about the recent St. Paul police shooting of a black suspect who reportedly pointed a gun at police as he fled their grip. Police shot and killed the man, and the NAACP, in response, called for an investigation, saying officers ought to have questioned and interviewed the suspect — despite his show of armed aggression — rather than shot him.
Sheriff Clarke called the shooting “a good shoot,” a “justifiable shooting,” and explained how the man who was shot and killed by police was actually reported to be stalking and making death threats to his former girlfriend. He then issued a sharp rebuke to the NAACP for its response.
“This once proud organization that was a force for good” hasn’t conducted any worthwhile campaigns since 1964, over the Civil Rights Act, he said during the broadcast. “[It’s now] nothing more than a political propaganda entity for the left.”
Sheriff Clarke also said that blacks in America ought to look at their own behaviors, rather than simply faulting and crying racism whenever they face police actions. He added: The absence of fathers in black families’ homes was fueling the crime rates seen in minority communities.
“The behavior is what we should be talking about,” he said. “The number one cause of this is father-absent homes.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.