MY TURN: Political 'clickbait'
In a genuine effort to maintain a balanced political understanding and to keep my vision from becoming myopic, I made some time to peruse the most recent and unsolicited volume 2, Issue 14 of The People's Pen that I found in my mailbox.
In doing so, I ran across an interview by Hari Heath with Sheriff Bob Norris. There were a few comments from Sheriff Bob, within that interview, that I keep replaying in my head. He was asked, “… how real from the perspective of the actual law enforcement response and investigation are such hate crimes?” referring to racial denigration in our community. His response, “… from a statistical standpoint; we just don't see a lot of hate-related criminal activity. We just don't see it.” I am guessing then, statistically, there must be far more library book classification violations to deal with than hate crimes. I wonder, at what statistical benchmark will hate crimes draw more attention from him?
I am reminded of the Pride In The Park event and the subsequent arrests of some members of a white supremacist group preparing to disrupt said event, the University of Utah women's basketball team, here to participate in the NCAA Tournament, who were harassed and subjected to racial slurs and, most recently, some Coeur d'Alene Tribal Youth members, on a school field trip, were harassed in McEuen Park. This singular event certainly raised the ire of Chairman Chief James Allan of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe to the level of offering a $25,000 reward for the positive identification and information leading to the conviction or civil judgment against the individuals responsible.
The sheriff was also asked, “… what he saw for the future of law enforcement in these times?” He replied, “Well, I believe that what we've seen these last few years, with this particular administration persecuting people for their political beliefs, I think the county sheriff should be given more responsibility than what they have. I believe the original intent of the sheriff's office was to not only protect the community, but also to protect from overreach of other [government] entities …” He continued by saying, “I think there have been millions of people that have come across the southern border that don't like us; that want to destroy our way of life, and that are here with the intent to kill Americans.” That is right, he actually said millions (plural) have crossed the southern border with intent to kill us, according to his interview in The People's Pen.
Well, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) are reporting downward trends nationwide in violent crimes. Therefore, from a statistical standpoint; I just don't see it, Sheriff Bob. And, what was that about wanting more power and why?
His words were a print media version of internet clickbaiting. I would like to suggest that the sheriff join forces with the Tribal Police and Chairman Allan, to protect our children and invited guests from those individuals who, from the reported descriptions and police reports, were not anyone that crossed over from the southern border.
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Brad Banta is a Coeur d'Alene resident.