Jake Morrill
By the Rev. Jake Morrill
This past July, a church committee requested a new message on the electronic sign, which faces the Oak Ridge Turnpike. The message they requested was “Black Lives Matter.” The board of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, or ORUUC, voted to approve it, and the message was added to the sign’s series of scrolling messages.
Since then, we’ve received feedback from different members of the community. Some has been to praise the sign; some, to criticize.
The Police Lives Matter Rally
Saturday night, I attended a rally called Police Lives Matter in A.K. Bissell Park. My colleague at ORUUC, the Rev. Tandy Scheffler, attended as well. She’s a recent graduate of the Citizen’s Police Academy.
She told me she saw the rally as a chance to demonstrate that support of police officers and support of black lives is not an “either/or,” but a “both/and” for her. Yes, she said, police lives matter, and yes, black lives matter, and yes, all lives matter. I agree. Along with my gratitude for police officers and first responders, I also attended because the rally’s organizers have been critical of the church’s “Black Lives Matter” sign.
When people have an opinion, I believe it’s important to listen. In fact, responding to online criticism of the sign in recent weeks, I’ve extended at least 15 invitations to people to sit down together so we could talk. I’m sorry to say that no one, as yet, has accepted my invitation.
So, at the rally, I wanted to shake hands and introduce myself to a couple of people. When people disagree, I prefer to talk in person than online, where it’s easy to fall from the highest standards of respect for each other. Some of the online rhetoric about the church and me has been inaccurate and has felt unkind. But I’m grateful that the church sign has not been vandalized, as has happened to “Black Lives Matter” signs in front of churches across the country. I know it’s more than our security cameras—it’s that, in Oak Ridge, no matter our different views, we have standards of respect and decency. As Oak Ridgers, we are in this together.
At the rally, prayers offered by two of my ministerial colleagues greatly moved me. I was inspired by the testimony of an officer who has lived heroically through PTSD. I’m grateful that there are those who care enough about our police officers that they would appreciate them publicly in this way. And yet, for all our common ground, I sense we differ with regard to “Black Lives Matter.” Because I can’t seem to tempt anyone to talk about it in person, maybe sharing my thinking in writing will help.
Rev. Morrill: A Christian and a Patriot
I don’t speak for our whole diverse congregation, nor can I speak for the Church Board. But I can speak for myself. So, for whatever it’s worth, here are my thoughts. I speak as a Christian and a patriot.
In the Christian tradition, I’m a Universalist. For 2,000 years, Universalists have said “all lives matter.” In the early centuries of the Christian church, as different people took different views on the nature of God, Universalists were those who said that, if God was love, and if God’s power was infinite, then no one could fall outside the care of that infinite love. They believed that humankind’s sins, no matter how awful, were not more powerful than the capacity of God’s grace to bring ultimate redemption. From that view, I aspire to live as if every life has inherent worth and dignity. In other words, theologically and ethically, along with centuries of other Universalists, I say, “all lives matter.”
In the American tradition, I’m a patriot in the line of 19th century Senator Carl Schurz, who said, “My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.” Our democracy is an ongoing process toward a more perfect union. Our founders were wise to set in place ways to reform and improve our systems through the years. That’s why, in 2015, we can have laws that speak to Internet commerce and other things our founders could not have imagined.
In a monarchy, or under fascism, the people have no voice. But, in a democracy, the nation is ruled by “we the people” and elected officials accountable to us, the citizens. Through election and appointment, in a democracy, people gain positional authority. And, in a democracy, their authority is strengthened and maintained through accountability. We ask accountability of our elected politicians. We ask accountability of our civic employees, as well.
I believe in the basic premise of this great nation: that it is possible to establish and sustain liberty and justice for all. In fact, I’ve backed my belief with the oath I took upon becoming an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve, to defend the Constitution. As I understand it, the Constitution provides for equal justice for all American citizens under the law.
To me, it isn’t controversial to say that all lives matter, and that, in this country, everyone is equal under the law. But I’m not a pie-in-the-sky idealist. I don’t believe that we, as a country, have reached the “Promised Land.” So, in this fallen world, as a Christian, I aspire to live according to the injunction of Jesus in Matthew 25:40, to serve and to stand with “the least of these.” The outcast, the oppressed, the forgotten, the unloved. To be an instrument of an all-loving God means to extend compassion to those who suffer.
The ‘War on Cops’ story does not match the facts
In the turmoil of our times, one group of people who suffer are police officers. Their jobs are stressful and demanding. They’re called into uncertain, sometimes unsafe situations, and expected to act professionally, maintaining the safety and order of our communities on our behalf. Their long hours and sacrificial service are a tremendous gift. I admire anyone who commits himself or herself to public service, and am grateful, in particular, to police officers. That’s why I’m glad the “war on cops” is only a make-believe story, created by Fox News.
The “war on cops” story is intended to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement, and to promote fear and outrage. In those goals, the story has been effective: a recent Rasmussen poll says that 58 percent of Americans believe that there is a “war on cops.” Where the story has fallen short is in telling the truth. That is, according to any statistical measure.
According to research by the American Enterprise Institute, using statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 2015 is on track to be one of the safest years for police officers in recorded history (since records began to be kept in 1870). I’ve looked at the original, raw numbers myself. Only the year 2013 was safer, with fewer assaults or killings of police officers. If you look at the rate of murder of police officers, the trend is even steeper. This follows a significant downward trend in recent decades. Under President Obama, there have been 46 percent fewer killings of police officers this year than at the same point in President Reagan’s presidency. By any credible statistic, there is no “war on cops.”
Articles such as the one by the Cato Institute’s Randy Balko, in The Washington Post last week, have covered this phenomenon: a large number of people who believe there is a “war on cops,” when in fact, cops are safer than they ever have been in history. They have traced the unfounded fear back to the fiction created by Fox News.
Fox News, I believe, does not mean to generate sympathy for hard-working police officers. If they truly cared about police officers, they would shine a light on compensation and benefits; they would look at job-related health issues, like stress-related heart trouble. But I believe the intent of this fictional story is not to focus public attention on actual issues faced by police officers. I believe the intent is to discredit the Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter: Seeking equal justice under the law
I understand Black Lives Matter to be in pursuit of the American ideal of equal justice under the law. In the last couple of years, ORUUC members have read the research in Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” The statistics are clear. The war on drugs, in the past three decades, has disproportionately affected African-Americans. Statistically, black people in this country are stopped, arrested, and imprisoned at rates much higher than white people with comparable behavior.
In other words, according to statistical patterns, how you behave is not the sole factor in determining whether you get stopped, arrested, and imprisoned. A significant factor is race. For the same behavior, for the same crime, black people can expect to receive longer sentences too.
Journalist Isabel Wilkinson was widely praised for her book, “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.” This history covers the migration of millions of African-Americans between 1915 and 1970, from the agricultural South to the urban North and West. Some might suspect they went in search only of jobs. But, compared to global migratory patterns, Wilkinson says that the movement of this population more resembles the patterns of people who are fleeing trauma, like the Syrian refugees in the news in recent days.
The trauma in the Jim Crow South was that of the “night patrols,” whose lynchings of African-Americans was the violence that held in place patterns of injustice in housing, education, pay, and so on. An African-American person who questioned Jim Crow, or insisted on being paid a fair wage, was seen as “uppity” and put himself in peril of violent retribution.
As someone who loves his country, it’s painful to see where we have fallen short. It’s tempting to wish away difficult information. But the thread of racial inequity that begins with slavery, continues in Jim Crow, and finds new form in the “new Jim Crow,” with patterns of unequal treatment under the law, asks me to not look away. To seek to understand.
When I mention statistics of racial inequity in the justice system, do I blame police officers? No. There is a wider context. For instance, housing in Oak Ridge was established according to the norms of Jim Crow. Because of federal housing policy, which set property values through “red-lining,” this means that a typical black family who bought a house in Scarboro in 1955 would build much less family wealth, over time, than a typical white family who bought a house in Woodland in the same year.
According to statistics available in city-data.com, there’s an academic achievement gap between black and white students in the Oak Ridge Schools. This is no secret; several years ago, I was on a task force, convened by the schools, to look at the issue. Black and white students in Oak Ridge seem to be disciplined at different rates, at least according to figures about suspensions. There are some who will say that, in 2015, what determines anyone’s fortunes is personal behavior. Unfortunately, the statistics suggest that, at this late date, in this country, race continues to be a significant factor.
Hope in our democracy
Some will say that to mention these facts is divisive, stirring racial tension. But, as a Christian, I believe in the power of confession. As a patriot, I believe in the possibility of democratic reform. We can handle looking at uncomfortable facts. We can be an even better, stronger, and fairer country than we have been to this day.
In a democracy, one of the ways we can improve is to require accountability from those who hold power. This is especially true when patterns of inequality persist. Statistics from ProPublica show that an African-American teenage male is 21 percent more likely to be shot and killed by a police officer than a white teenage male. Numbers from the FBI suggest that this year will record the highest number of deaths of citizens by police officers. After the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last year, much was made of the racial bias in the police department there. But last November, research from USA Today found almost 1,600 communities in the country where the race-based patterns in police departments were worse. Last week, in response to these unsettling patterns, the Republican-led Congress passed a bill requiring stricter reporting from local departments of instances in which officers shoot a citizen.
How can we handle all this information? Critics of the police might point to cases like the officer in Louisiana who was fired this summer for his participation in the Ku Klux Klan. Critics of Black Lives Matter might replay that video clip in which some people chant “fry ‘em like bacon.” But those are outliers that distract from the norm. The great majority of police officers are hard-working professionals. The great majority of Black Lives Matter supporters are non-violent, engaged citizens. We can get hooked by the latest media scandal. But it doesn’t help us sincerely talk about the country we want. Or to figure out how to get from here to there.
Do patterns of racial bias exist in the Oak Ridge Police Department? I don’t know. It’s possible that our community somehow defies overwhelming national statistical patterns. If so, we would have cause to celebrate. But if the numbers turned out to show racial bias, I wouldn’t lay blame on our police officers. I would lay it on all of us, the community. In a democracy, the standards of our community are our responsibility. If the numbers showed racial bias, finger-pointing would be unhelpful. What might help would be dialogue, understanding, and systems of training and accountability that supported our shared desire for equal justice under the law.
The sign in front of the church says “Black Lives Matter.” Some imagine it says “Only Black Lives Matter.” Some have imagined it says “Not All Lives Matter.” Some imagine it says “Police Lives Don’t Matter.” I respect the right to creative interpretation. I’m sorry that misinformation from Fox News, about a “war on cops,” has stirred up some fear. But the sign says none of these things. It says, simply, three words: “Black Lives Matter.” If people want to imagine an additional word, they might try, “Black Lives Matter, Too.”
Will the sign be changed? I don’t know. Probably, at some point. Right now, it signals an area of study and concern among the congregation. Those wanting to share their opinions can write to the Church’s Board of Trustees.
In a country with historic and continuing patterns of racial inequality, in a country that promises equal justice under the law, if we’re going to ensure that all lives matter, we’re going to have to pause, look at the facts, and figure out together how it can be true. Not only as an ideal, but also in fact. Do you believe it is possible? That together, through dialogue about painful information, and in a spirit of mutual trust, grounded in radical hope, we can realize a country and a community, where, along with other lives, Black Lives Matter? I do.
Let us thank our police officers. Let us thank first responders. And teachers. And city employees. And faith leaders. Let’s thank all who give of themselves to make our community strong. For over 12 years, I’ve been proud to call Oak Ridge home. Let’s walk together, in love and respect, to make it even greater, according to the standards of mercy, compassion, and justice. Our journey isn’t over. But we’ll get there, I trust.
Correction: After submitting this column, one of the people I invited to coffee accepted my invitation. I look forward to it. There is reason to hope.
The Rev. Jake Morrill has served as minister of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church since 2003, and he is also a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve.
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Note: The submitted letters and columns published in the Opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of Oak Ridge Today or its staff.
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Charlie Jernigan says
Thanks, Jake, for this balanced description of your point-of-view and its background.
Becky Spain-Kaiser says
I believe you wrote that from a TRULY fair and balanced perspective.
Allen McBride says
Thank you, Jake, for working so hard to share this message. I’m proud of our church for saying publicly that Black Lives Matter. I hope we keep it on our sign until it’s no longer a controversial message.
Philip W Nipper says
I find it odd that the Unitarian church, or any church for that matter, would have an electronic sign in the first place. Tacky don’t you think having an electronic message board flashing like a Dairy Queen advertising its latest frozen concoction. As for the message itself, I believe all human life matters regardless of skin color, race, religious believes, political thought, occupation, physical appearance, mental capacity, etc. I think a more appropriate “slogan” to place on the electronic message board if you really feel there should be a slogan on the board at all would be simply ” Life Matters” or “All Life Matters” or my personal favorite “Be Kind To One Another”.
Mark Caldwell says
Perhaps we all should have electronic signs that read “Be Kind To One Another.” Maybe some might actually implement that sentiment.
Trina Baughn says
The sign is divisive.
Period. And spinning stats to minimize the recent rash of ambush cop killings
is disingenuous to your professed stance of unification. Rather than defend
your sign, your column and attendance at the Police Lives Matter rally could have
been used to listen and give credence to concerns on both sides of the issue.
Joseph Lee says
Fox is calling.
Joseph Lee says
Fox is calling.
Sam Hopwood says
Well said. Perhaps the “Black Lives Matter’ sign should be posted in Chicago and/or Baltimore where black on black murder rates are the highest in history and the year isn’t over yet. ALL LIVES MATTER.
Mark Caldwell says
Or perhaps the sign being in Oak Ridge is more than appropriate. I’d say it would be fitting in many towns and cities.
Hey, I know, let’s use the All Lives Matter slogan to reduce the number of loaded handguns in people pockets and purses when they go to parks, shops, and restaurants in Oak Ridge..
Joseph Lee says
Perhaps, the spinning of stats by the most divisive council member in the history of our city is in fact disingenuous. Period.
Trina Baughn says
What’s the matter, Joe? Didn’t get enough of your anger out at me in council last week? Take a nap, maybe you’ll feel better. Then again, maybe not.
Joseph Lee says
I’ll feel better when you are gone.
BAUGHN LIES MATTER.
Spin that Trina Jo.
Trina Baughn says
When I’m gone where? Six feet under? The fact that you have no self control when it comes to me is scary, Joe.. Do you plan to hijack every thread I participate in? I think that’s called cyber stalking. I’d report you, but your BFF wouldn’t do anything.
Joseph Lee says
No Trina Jo. It’s called push back. When you tell a lie I’m calling you out.
Your get by with a lie free pass has been stamped void. Thanks for asking.
Matt Bailey says
Joe I thought we had already determined that ms. Baughns legal expertise was questionable. Cyber stalking? Go easy on her, Joe. She still thinks she’s a member of the bar association.
johnhuotari says
Hi, Joe and Matt.
The original topic was the Black Lives Matter sign at the UU Church, so I would ask you to stay on that topic, per our commenting guidelines.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
John
Sam Hopwood says
Thank you John. OR’s dynamic duo DO like to flaunt their vendetta whenever they can. Thanks again…. BTW do you ever sleep?? 🙂
Charlie Jernigan says
Divisive? Really? Is “The sky is blue” divisive since it does not identify the color of everything? Is any categorical statement of fact divisive?
And speaking of spinning statistics, law enforcement deaths this year are shaping up to be lower than 12 other recent years, starting with the year 2000.
Sam Hopwood says
If law enforcement deaths are going to be lower this year, as you state, that’s amazing considering the riots, looting and targeting of police officers from some of our “peaceful protesters. Yes, ALL LIVES MATTER.
Charlie Jernigan says
Yes, the media meme does not stand up to scrutiny, overall.
Anthony Allen says
Black lives don’t matter to the dangerous “Black Lives Matter” ganstas or the prim and proper “Black Lives Matter” apologists. Neither, address blacks murdering blacks or blacks aborting blacks. The dangerous BLM ganstas hide behind looting, burning, and murdering. The prim and proper BLM apologists hide under the UUA marquee or in the safety of their air conditioned buildings.
Charlie Jernigan says
And you hide behind angry rants which prevent you from even acknowledging that Black Lives Matter.
That is sad…
Trina Baughn says
I’m sure your stats are a real comfort
to our men and women in blue, Charlie. How ironic it is that those who are
usually so preoccupied with political correctness and demand “justice” when someone has been offended are now so adamant that their choice of words not be judged or perceived
as harmful. ALL LIVES MATTER.
Charlie Jernigan says
If “All Lives Matter” to you, why do you have a problem with “Black Lives Matter”? Is it your judgement that Blacks are not included in all people?
The problem is not with the phrase being judged, rather it is your judgement that seems faulty.
Trina Baughn says
Words hurt, Charlie. And in this case, they may very well have incited physical reactions, regardless of the intent or original meaning. Again, rather than get caught up in defending the phrase by talking semantics, why not explore the reasons it causes so much pain for officers and their families?
Charlie Jernigan says
How many Oak Ridge police officers do you know who feel pain when they hear or read the statement, “Black lives matter.”? I hope you understand that they (if there are any) should not be police officers.
Anthony Allen says
Your constant spinning of subjective rhetorical questions as if the answers would bolster your point is arrogance!
The racist marquee “Black Lives Matter” does not reflect the attitude of the Unitarian pastor, Rev. Reeb who marched with Dr. MLK. Rev Reeb was beaten to death by white racist thugs. Now, you, others and the UUA support black racist thugs of “Black Lives Matter”. They holler and chant for the murder of police officers!
You would repudiate white racist! But sanction black racist; even promoting their vile slogan on a marquee! It is a double standard, Charlie. Hold the black racists with the same disdain as the white racists! Take down the sign! Take down “Black Lives Matter”! Take it down now!
Please stop capitalizing black. Black is a color not a race.
Charlie Jernigan says
Anthony, it is hard to figure out from your numerous deflections what you actually believe other than it is clear that you believe that Black Lives do not Matter.
I hope this is a minority opinion.
John Todd Waterman says
Rev. Morrill speaks thoughtfully and eloquently for ORUUC, whose collective heart is open to all. If All Lives Matter, then Police Lives Matter and Black Lives Matter, too. But the statistics Jake cites, and many, many more, compellingly and verifiably show that Black lives continue to be far more expendable than White lives or police lives. As a proud member of ORUUC, I intend to keep working to make Black lives just as important as other lives, in every way.
Dave Smith says
I have long thought that what Oak Ridge needs most is more collective hearts that are open to all.
Tracy Stout says
From Tracy Stout
Don’t “Gay Lives Matter?” What about “Jewish Lives Matter?” Or “Interracial Lives Matter?” Do they not count? Or are they equally “harassed” by the police or the school administration when it comes to doling out punishment?
OR is still recovering from one of the messes Trina brought down on this town that divided us. Well, not really divided, iFrom Tracy Stout
Clearly the message, “Black lives matter” hasn’t resonated with some black lives in our local populace.
Your continued use of Fox News as being the instigator of all this would be amusing if it weren’t so sad. Regarding the Michael Brown incident, Holder, barack and Sharpton were too busy blaming the white policeman to pay attention to the FACTS of this case. Remember? “Hands up?” Didn’t exist.
I have no reason to meet with you, knowing what you were going to say before you said it. You won’t change my mind. The sign is divisive, you know it, your congregation knows it, as do the residents of Oak Ridge.
BTW, the FBI, police departments nor the DOJ have ever kept records of how many police shootings and the reasons for them in any national database.
Mark Caldwell says
Holder and Obama blamed the police officer? I don’t remember that. Was it reported on Fox? Maybe you can send us a link?
Kevin Rice says
I would like to meet with you all and the Chief of Police and OakRidgeToday and see what can be worked out for the BEST OF OAK RIDGE, I Started the Event for One Reason to show support for OUR POLICE OFFICER’S and FIRST RESPONDERS and ALL LIVES MATTER ! I had other people that were doing the thing, So we put it all in one so there would not be two Events ! We had it all worked out and had people that we were going to speck and sing and pray and at the Event I found out Mr Allen was going to speck also he is a great man and is a Black Man what does Color of his skin have to do with it ? He said he wanted that sign taken down which I agree ! But I would like to get a meeting with you all and put this to a STOP please, We do not need this in Our Town ! We as Oak Ridges need to get past this please we need to work to make Oak Ridge A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE !
Mark Caldwell says
I agree. Let’s get over fussing about a message on a sign. I don’t believe the sign is divisive. If someone thinks it’s divisive, I hope they will eventually get over their preconceptions.
PS Not sure what all of the capital letters are for, but I think I can get over it.
Dave Smith says
I noticed the “BLACK LIVES MATTER” slogan on the UUC marquee a week or so ago. The Reverend’s polite supplication has helped me realize the depth of their grievous concern for the plight of black America. Heretofore I assumed that they chose “Black Lives Matter” because “Some of our best friends are African-American” was too long to fit on the marquee.
Anthony Allen says
Thanks Dave Smith. It is sickening that for every social issue, people like Jake and the UUA use “blacks” to promote their agenda.
If Jake and the UUA want to help, they should stop making blacks conspicuous for their social agenda. In other words, treat blacks like they are Americans, not like they are pets!
Take down the sign! It is an embarrassment to the character of Oak Ridge. It shows the UUA’s condescension towards blacks.
Mark Caldwell says
I could not disagree with you more. But I don’t think you’re “sickening.”
David Allred says
Stress is necessary to test the adaptive capabilities of most anything, from cells to communities. It is true both psychologically and socially. I’m not a sign, bumper-sticker, or slogan kind of guy and have zero feelings about the sign one way or the other. I saw it and said, “There’s a sign.” I was no worse the wear for it.
It’s certainly more curious, and perhaps a little sad, to me that a community would choose to be so maladaptive to a perceived stressor as to cut off relationship over it. It speaks to our cultural illnesses that differences of opinion can so readily bring out polarization rather than unity.
If the gospels have taught anything to us at all, it is that whenever we draw a line between ourselves and other people, especially minorities, Jesus is usually on the other side of it.
Finally, if you dislike the sign, look toward the other side of the street. If anyone wants to judge ORUUC, or Rev. Morrill, on a sign without taking in the larger body of work, then make sure you’ve read Matthew 7:2-3 first.
I’d hate to think someone might judge my church from a single sign. Actually, I suppose it wouldn’t bother me all that much, because that kind of relationship would be pretty toxic to begin with, so seeing it go might be the best thing to ever happen. The last thing any of us need is to smother under another’s security blanket.
Jack Mansfield says
The “Black lives matter” movement is racist to the core. They have chanted such things as “What do we want, dead pigs, when do we want it? Now!”; and “pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon”. These chants are intentional to incite the murder of police officers, plain and simple.
Its funny how you want to cite the stats and say how the death of police officers if kept on the current pace will be less than many other years. It would even be less except for the numerous assassinations of police officers by black men. The black man who killed the two police officers in New York, sitting in their patrol car eating lunch minding their own business when he killed them posted on his face book about going out today and putting wings on some pigs. Do you think the families of these slain officer feel better because the stats show that the death of officers will be lower this year than those of the past?
Jake’s head is up in the clouds somewhere and not based in reality.
The BLM activists also wear shirts that state, “Assata taught
me”. Assata Shakur shot and killed a New Jersey State Trooper in 1973
and is now a fugitive in Cuba. She is on the FBI’s ten most wanted list as a domestic terrorist. This is the type of honor the BLM movement shows to a terrorist and Jake wants to show support for this on his organization’s sign. What is Assata teaching them??
So for an organization that falls into the category as a ministry to place this on their sign, as far as I’m concerned, is approving of the killing of police officers and promoting racism, no matter what high and lofty things they want to say to convince me otherwise.
Its kind of funny that if someone flies a confederate flag with no intention to be racist is called a racist regardless and the left demands that the flag come down. But if a conservative person calls “black lives matter” a racist statement, the liberal left will come up with high and lofty articles to defend their reasons why it should remain. Hypocritical me thinks.
Joseph Lee says
There are a few rotten apples in every barrel.
You proved that last Monday evening. Thanks.
Jack Mansfield says
Thanks for the compliment Joe, I can always rely you. I couldn’t agree with you more, Chief Akagi is a rotten apple, and I proved it. Thanks Again.
Joseph Lee says
You are welcome Jack and correct. You can always count on me. Thanks again.
Jack Mansfield says
On Thursday, Atlanta news channel WSB reported that Latausha Nedd, a supporter of Black Lives Matter
who goes by the name “Eye Empress Sekhmet,” was arrested after she reportedly posted YouTube videos calling for a war on white people and police. The videos, WSB said, “are filled with profanity and hate for
white people.”
Go here to read the rest of the article:
http://www.examiner.com/article/black-lives-matter-supporter-arrested-after-calls-to-murder-police-white-people
Jake why don’t you load up in your mini van and take a ride to Atlanta and tell her how much you value her life. I’m sure she would love to accept your outstretched peaceful hand.
Jack Mansfield says
Oh the hits just keep coming.
On Wednesday, 20-year-old Carlos Anthony Hollins of Waldorf, Maryland, was arrested by the Charles County Sheriff’s Office for a threat of mass violence against all white people in the town of La Plata. Earlier in the day, he allegedly issued a tweet threatening to murder all of the white people in the community.
“IM NOT GONNA STAND FOR THIS NO. MORE. TONIGHT WE PURGE! KILL ALL THE WHITE PPL IN THE TOWN OF LA PLATA,” he wrote in the short message that has since been deleted. The message ended with the hashtag “#BlackLivesMatter.” He later claimed it was a joke, but law enforcement officers apparently failed to see the humor in his tweet.
Go here for the rest:
http://www.examiner.com/article/black-lives-matter-supporter-arrested-for-threat-to-purge-town-of-all-whites
BLM, they’re just misunderstood I’m sure.
Jack Mansfield says
Latausha Nedd on TV. You can watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awwMO8Yf1P4
Fine upstanding citizen and member of black lives matter.
Jack Mansfield says
Latausha Nedd makes her appearance in court, see here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qV83HsGUEK8
Here is the news story out of St Paul Minnesota about the “pigs in a blanket, fry em like bacon” story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PelVrRyNCU0
I wonder why the good reverend has not bothered to come by and join this discussion; probably because he would wilt in an open debate. Even his defenders have gone silent. hmmm…..
Jack Mansfield says
In a trial on Aug 30, 2015 two black men were convicted and given a life sentence for the execution style murder of two young white men. At the trial one of the defendants had the opportunity to speak. Go here to hear it for yourselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6XviokosuI
Prime time BLM. This is what you support Jake.
Jack Mansfield says
Jake, here’s what happens when police officers have to confront an unarmed black man and are afraid to act because they fear what they would have to endure if they responded like Officer Darren Wilson did and have to go through what he went through in Ferguson, MO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axvR-eVgOZA
Eventually if this black lives matters movement continues police officers all across this nation will start to ignore criminal activity in response to the lack of support from this nations citizens and soon you will have to deal with it and it won’t be pretty.
Mark Caldwell says
Jack, you present an appearance of being a bitter man. Do you have a viable hobby or is this it?
Jack Mansfield says
Mark, I’m not bitter at all. I have just reached the point in my life when I will not put up with shenanigans. I am not willing to compromise or coexist any longer. Mr Morrill and his organization does not care that this racist movement hates him and police officers. As a retired police officer I have to speak out on their behalf. I am also a pastor and for Jake to take this stand is diametrically opposed to me on two counts. His organization thrives on compromise and coexistence.
I also have many hobbies, tooooo many to list here. You make it sound like I live here. I believe that this is the only time I have participated in a thread at this site. Take Care.