SMH: Philly Police Union President Calls Protesters A 'Pack Of Rabid Animals'
Relations between police and citizens will never improve until both sides respect one another.
Without a doubt, there are people who are wrong on both sides. However, calling protesters who didn't turn violent 'rabid animals' just isn't right.
The mayor spoke out against the Union leader's words yesterday.
Mayor Kenney said Tuesday that using “divisive words gets us nowhere” as he responded to the city police union president’s calling protesters a “pack of rabid animals” for demonstrating outside the home of an officer involved in a fatal shooting in June.
On Aug. 24, a handful of Black Lives Matter protesters engaged in a provocative demonstration outside Officer Ryan Pownall’s home in Bustleton. The officer’s home was protected by a large contingent of police, who also had to keep the protesters apart from angry neighbors.
John McNesby, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, called the protesters a “pack of rabid animals” at a rally in support of police held at the union’s Northeast Philadelphia headquarters last week. The comment drew criticism from across the country.
“While a few individuals have engaged recently in rhetoric and actions that crossed the line, for the large part their conduct wasn’t illegal, and escalating the rhetoric in response doesn’t help. Referring to black people as animals has a long, painful history in this country. Fighting divisive words with divisive words gets us nowhere,” Kenney said in a statement first published online by Philadelphia Magazine. -(Robert Moran, Philly.com)