Trump tweets cops have a 'right to legally protest' - 1 day after telling kneeling black athletes..

[DonViejo]

Trump tweets cops have a ‘right to legally protest’ — one day after telling kneeling black athletes to leave country

CODY FENWICK, ALTERNET
25 MAY 2018 AT 19:50 ET

President Donald Trump endorsed the demands of Chicago police officers in their conflict with the city’s mayor in a tweet Friday night, saying they have “have every right to legally protest” — a sentiment seeming to conflict with his push to punish black athletes in the NFL who protest silently during the national anthem.

“Chicago Police have every right to legally protest against the mayor and an administration that just won’t let them do their job,” Trump wrote. “The killings are at a record pace and tough police work, which Chicago will not allow, would bring things back to order fast…the killings must stop!”

In addition to revealing his hypocrisy of Trump’s view on the right to protest, the tweet was factually wrong. As Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale Link to tweet
" target="_blank">noted: “Trump’s claim that Chicago homicide is at a record pace is wildly wrong. In fact, it is down 22% from last year. Shootings are down 27%. Police say gun violence has been down year-over-year for 14 consecutive months.”

Just the day before, Trump had attacked the practice of protest, at least as engaged in certain ways and by certain people.

“You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn’t be playing,” Trump said in the interview with Fox News about NFL player’s protests on Thursday. “You shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country.”

More
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/05/trump-tweets-cops-right-legally-protest-one-day-telling-kneeling-black-athletes-leave-country/

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[MichMan]

2. One does fall under the First Amendment while the other clearly does not.

I get so frustrated over the total ignorance of much of the population regarding the 1st Amendment.

I'll get attacked for this but there is a distinction between protesting off the job vs on the job.

The police were picketing outside City Hall on their own time while off duty, while the players protest occurs on the field just prior to the kickoff. While I support the players cause, I think there are better ways to get their message across other than kneeling.

It isn't clear to much of the country why they are kneeling, thus making the protest somewhat ineffective as it mistakenly comes across as disrespect for the country etc. I thought the NFL offer to create a $89 million dollar social injustice fund would create a better opportunity for the players to communicate the broader issue of police brutality. That is a substantial amount of money that would have a pretty significant impact IMO.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that the continued protests over the new rule might derail that deal.

I think the most effective protest the players could muster on the field against the NFL rule, would be to have both teams sit down at the first scrimmage and stay there while a stadium full of fans and the TV cameras are trained on them. If all 26 teams did this on opening day, the potential forfeits wouldn't mean anything.


Another idea I think would resonate would be for top draft picks to shun the NFL and sign with the CFL instead. Imagine the media coverage of the #1 pick on the live ESPN draft day announcing that he will not sign with the team that just drafted him, but would prefer playing in Canada instead.