Formation | 2014New York City, New York, U.S. |
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Founders | Active and retired law enforcement officers |
Type | Social movement |
Location |
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Blue Lives Matter (also known as Police Lives Matter) is a countermovement in the United States that emerged in 2014 in direct opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. [1] It gained traction following the high-profile homicides of NYPD officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu in Brooklyn, New York. [2] [3] [4] [5] Supporters of Blue Lives Matter have called for crimes committed against police officers to be classified as hate crimes. [6]
Critics[ who? ] have said that while being Black is an inherent characteristic, being a police officer is a choice, and that police officers are already respected in most communities. They add that attacking or killing a police officer already carries a higher penalty than attacking a non-police officer in most states. [6]
On December 20, 2014, in the wake of the killings of officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, a group of law enforcement officers formed Blue Lives Matter to counter media reports that they perceived to be anti-police. [7] [8] Blue Lives Matter is made up of active and retired law enforcement officers. The current national spokesman for Blue Lives Matter is retired Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Lieutenant Randy Sutton. [9]
In September 2015, over 100 Los Angeles police officers took part in a Blue Lives Matter rally in Hollywood to "show support for the department at a time when [...] the ambush killings of police officers in cities elsewhere have left authorities across the nation feeling under siege." [10]
The Blue Lives Matter movement led to a state law in Louisiana (HB953) which made it a hate crime to target police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical service personnel. [11] [12] [6] The Louisiana law, passed in May 2016, makes it a hate crime to target police officers or firefighters. The legislation, authored by state Representative Lance Harris, was signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards. The law allows for hate crime felonies to carry an additional $5,000 fine or five years in prison, while hate crime misdemeanors to carry an additional $500 fine or six months in prison. [6]
The ACLU and others, including supporters of enhanced penalties for crimes against police officers, [13] The law has also been criticized for weakening the impact of the Hate Crimes Act by adding categories of people who are already better protected under other laws and characterized by their career choice instead of people persecuted for lifelong personal characteristics they cannot choose such as race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. [14] [15] That police deaths are decreasing overall has also led some to question the need for such laws. [16] [17] [18]
Critics of Blue Lives Matter state that one's job does not have the deep identity significance and source of solidarity that one's racial identity can, [19] and that Black identity and history is constantly under threat of erasure while police officers do not face this threat. [19] [20] Another source of criticism is the belief that African Americans in urban areas are unfairly suspected of being thieves and freeloaders, while police officers are typically respected and honored in communities. [19] [21] [22] Some state that supporters of Blue Lives Matter are intentionally or unintentionally supporting a system of discriminatory policing and racial profiling. [14]
Some critics of Blue Lives Matter laws state the laws are redundant as attacking or killing a police officer would already result in a harsher punishment than attacking a non-police officer. [23] [24] [25]
Others, such as St. Martinville Police Chief, Calder Hebert, say these laws will make resisting arrest a hate crime [12] which has drawn criticism as hate crimes are crimes in which victims are targeted because of identity-based characteristics such as race, sexual orientation, or gender. [14] [26] According to FBI data, violence against police officers, as well as crime in general has decreased without these laws; calling into question their necessity. [16] [17] [27]
Frank Rudy Cooper, an expert on the intersectionality of identities and policing, wrote that the Blue Lives Matter movement is essentially an extension of the blue wall of silence, and the newest manifestation of police resistance to criticism. [28] [29] [30]
Following the 2021 United States Capitol attack many have called Blue Lives Matter hypocritical as many in the mob were showing support for Blue Lives Matter, yet they assaulted Capitol police officers. Harry Dunn, an African-American Capitol Police officer, described being beaten with a Blue Lives Matter flag. [31] This has led some to argue that Blue Lives Matter is more about suppressing minorities than supporting law enforcement. [32] [33] [34]
A hate crime is crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership of a certain social group.
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly referred to as the 1994 Crime Bill, or the Clinton Crime Bill, is an Act of Congress dealing with crime and law enforcement; it became law in 1994. It is the largest crime bill in the history of the United States and consisted of 356 pages that provided for 100,000 new police officers, $9.7 billion in funding for prisons which were designed with significant input from experienced police officers. Sponsored by U.S. Representative Jack Brooks of Texas, the bill was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton. Then-Senator Joe Biden of Delaware drafted the Senate version of the legislation in cooperation with the National Association of Police Organizations, also incorporating the Assault Weapons ban and the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) with Senator Orrin Hatch.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, municipal police departments in the United States.
Suicide by cop, also known as suicide by police or law-enforcement-assisted suicide, is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately behaves in a threatening manner, with intent to provoke a lethal response from a public safety or law enforcement officer to end their own life.
The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodges, and the national Grand Lodge. The organization attempts to improve the working conditions of law enforcement officers and the safety of those they serve through education, legislation, information, community involvement, and employee representation.
ACAB, an acronym of the phrase "all cops are bastards", is a political slogan associated with people who are opposed to the police. It is typically written as a catchphrase in graffiti, tattoos or other imagery in public spaces. It is sometimes numerically rendered as "1312", representing the position of the letters in the English alphabet.
Violence against transgender people includes emotional, physical, sexual, or verbal violence targeted towards transgender people. The term has also been applied to hate speech directed at transgender people and at depictions of transgender people in the media that reinforce negative stereotypes about them. Trans and non-binary gender adolescents can experience bashing in the form of bullying and harassment. When compared to their cisgender peers, trans and non-binary gender youth are at increased risk for victimisation, which has been shown to increase their risk of substance abuse.
In modern politics, "law and order" is an ideological approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws and even capital punishment in some countries. Supporters of "law and order" argue that harsh punishment is the most effective means of crime prevention. Opponents argue that a system of harsh criminal punishment is ultimately ineffective because it self-perpetuates crime and does not address underlying or systemic causes of crime. They furthermore credit it with facilitating greater militarisation of police and contributing to mass incarceration in the United States.
In the United States, domestic terrorism is defined as terrorist acts that were carried out within the United States by U.S. citizens and/or U.S. permanent residents. As of 2021, the United States government considers white supremacists to be the top domestic terrorism threat.
Hate crime laws in the United States are state and federal laws intended to protect against hate crimes. While state laws vary, current statutes permit federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of a person's characteristics of race, religion, ethnicity, disability, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and campus police departments are required to collect and publish hate crime statistics.
The "thin blue line" is a term that typically refers to the concept of the police as the line between law and order and chaos in society. The "blue" in "thin blue line" refers to the blue color of the uniforms of many police departments. The thin blue line symbol has been used by the Blue Lives Matter movement since 2014, and it has become emblematic of white nationalist, neo-Nazi, and alt-right movements in the US, particularly displayed by attendees of the Unite the Right rally in 2017 and the January 6 Storming of the US Capitol in 2021.
Police brutality is the use of excessive or unnecessary force by personnel affiliated with law enforcement duties when dealing with suspects and civilians.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people and to promote anti-racism. Its primary concerns are police brutality and racially motivated violence against black people. The movement began in response to the killings of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Rekia Boyd, among others. BLM and its related organizations typically advocate for various policy changes related to black liberation and criminal justice reform. While there are specific organizations that label themselves "Black Lives Matter", such as the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the overall movement is a decentralized network with no formal hierarchy. As of 2021, there are about 40 chapters in the United States and Canada. The slogan "Black Lives Matter" itself has not been trademarked by any group.
On December 20, 2014, Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley shot and killed Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu — two on-duty New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers — in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Brinsley then fled into the New York City Subway, where he killed himself. Earlier in the day, before he killed Ramos and Liu, Brinsley had shot and wounded his ex-girlfriend Shaneka Thompson in Baltimore after initially pointing the gun at his own head.
DeRay Mckesson is an American civil rights activist, podcaster, and former school administrator. An early supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, he has been active in the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland and on social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram. He has also written for HuffPost and The Guardian. Along with Johnetta Elzie, Brittany Packnett, and Samuel Sinyangwe, Mckesson launched Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence. He is currently part of Crooked Media and hosts Pod Save the People.
On July 7, 2016, Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed and shot police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five, injuring nine others, and wounding two civilians. Johnson, a 25-year-old Army Reserve Afghan War veteran, was angry over police shootings of black men. He shot the officers at the end of a protest against the recent killings by police of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
The presence of LGBTQ officers in law enforcement has a history of controversy. As times have changed, police forces have adapted by adding LGBTQ divisions, officers and committees within their ranks to account for legislation established by governments to protect individuals who previously had little or no voice when it came to laws impacting their own communities.
Anti-police sentiment refers to a social group or individual's attitude and stance against the policing system.
Copaganda is propaganda efforts to shape public opinion about police or counter criticism of police and anti-police sentiment.
The Black Lives Matter movement has been depicted and documented in various artistic forms and mediums including film, song, television, and the visual arts. In some instances this has taken place in the form of protest art. These cultural representations have also grown organically among artists who seek to partake in activist efforts in support or in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement. The themes conveyed in these artistic works address the history of racism and injustice toward people of color in the United States and typically express sentiments of anger and fear as well as solace and hope.
Blue Lives Matter countermovement, which emerged in 2014 as a rebuttal to Black Lives Matter and gained traction following high-profile
A pro-police movement called Blue Lives Matter was established in response to Black Lives matter and to the increasing attacks on law enforcement, which resulted in 63 officer line-of-duty deaths by gunfire in 2016.