Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Short version, Chief Bennett of UC Berkeley: "I'm not a cop,

I'm a politician, and I'll do what makes the other politicians I answer to happy; screw the victims."
Clearly, individual rights were not protected and property was not safeguarded. And if Chief Bennett feels she was following “best practices” in permitting the flagrant lawlessness the world saw on the Berkeley campus that evening, I would be keen to learn what they might be. Lastly, in regards to truth and honesty, and in holding herself accountable, here too Chief Bennett failed.

She was quoted in a Sunday Los Angeles Times story justifying her inaction against the campus mob. Taking action against the rioters, she said, would have created “a lethal, horror situation.” Then she resorted to the modern police chief’s rationalization for failing to uphold the law: “We have to do exactly what we did last night: to show tremendous restraint,” she said.

Ah, yes, “restraint.” In other words, Chief Bennett will protect individual rights, protect property, and all the rest, just as long as doing so doesn’t require her officers to use force against people whose opinions are favored by school’s administrators and faculty.

1 comment:

Pawpaw said...

Chief Bennett has a problem because the 1st Amendment is a gate that swings both ways. The FBI is investigating the riot now, and may find that she was malfeasant in letting it go on. Protest is one thing, violence is something else again.