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Blue Lives Matter

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Blue Lives Matter
Formation2014; 10 years ago (2014)
New York City, New York, U.S.
FoundersActive and retired law enforcement officers
TypeSocial movement
Location
  • United States

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.

Critics have pointed out that while being Black is an identity-based characteristic, being a police officer is a choice, and that police officers are already typically respected in communities. They add that attacking or killing a police officer already carries a higher penalty than attacking a non-police officer, and that the movement is actually more about suppressing minorities than supporting law enforcement.

History

A golf cart participating in a Blue Lives Matter rally held in The Villages, Florida in June 2020

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.[6][7] 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.[8]

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."[9]

Legislation

See also: Hate crime laws in the United States § Police and firefighters

Louisiana

Despite criticism by the ACLU and others, including supporters of enhanced penalties for crimes against police officers,[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][13] This law has 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] In addition, Louisiana's law was immediately invoked by law enforcement to enable more of the kind of serious overreach into the rights of citizens that both the police and the Blue Lives Matter movement have been criticized for. For example, false claims were immediately made that the law can be used to increase punishment for resisting arrest, despite this specifically not being a qualifying offense named in the law, which specifies the criteria battery and assault.[11] Evidence that violence against police officers is decreasing has also been used to call into question the motivations for the law.[16][17][18]

Louisiana passed legislation in May 2016, making 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.[13]

Criticism

A sign criticizing Blue Lives Matter at a Black Lives Matter protest

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. One African-American Capitol Police Officer even 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]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lynch, Sarah N. (October 16, 2017). "FBI says US police deaths spiked 61% in 2016". Business Insider. Reuters. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  2. ^ Smith, Christopher. "BLUE LIVES MATTER VERSUS BLACK LIVES MATTER: BENEFICIAL SOCIAL POLICIES AS THE PATH AWAY FROM PUNITIVE RHETORIC AND HARM" (PDF). Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Longazel, Jamie (July 1, 2021). "'Blue Lives Matter' and the legacy of blackface minstrelsy". Race & Class. 63 (1): 91–106. doi:10.1177/03063968211012276. S2CID 235716239. Retrieved January 23, 2023. Blue Lives Matter countermovement, which emerged in 2014 as a rebuttal to Black Lives Matter and gained traction following high-profile
  4. ^ John S. Dempsey; Linda S. Forst; Steven B. Carter (January 1, 2018). An Introduction to Policing. Cengage Learning. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-337-55875-4. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2019. 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.
  5. ^ Valencia, Milton J. "How 'Blue Lives Matter' trend has emerged as the identity politics of the right - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ^ "Blue Lives Matter". Blue Lives Matter. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  7. ^ "Blue Lives Matter Facebook". Blue Lives Matter Facebook. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  8. ^ Newsome, John (May 20, 2016). "'Blue lives matter' bill set for Louisiana governor's signature". CNN. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  9. ^ "Police, Supporters Hold 'Blue Lives Matter' Rally in Hollywood". KTLA.com. September 27, 2015. Archived from the original on August 29, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  10. ^ "Louisiana governor signs 'Blue Lives Matter' bill". May 26, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "HB95". legis.la.gov. Louisiana State Legislature. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Craven, Julia (January 23, 2017). "Louisiana Police Chief Shows Why The State's 'Blue Lives Matter' Law Is So Dangerous". Archived from the original on February 10, 2019. Retrieved April 9, 2017 – via Huff Post.
  13. ^ a b Izadi, Elahe (May 26, 2016). "Louisiana is the first state to offer hate crime protections to police officers". Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 30, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
  14. ^ a b c Lindsey, Treva B. (September 6, 2016). "Why Blue Lives Matter Is Just as Dangerous as White Lives Matter". Complex. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  15. ^ "Methodology". FBI. Archived from the original on March 19, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  16. ^ a b Lartey, Jamiles (May 16, 2016). "FBI data showing drop in police deaths undermines 'war on cops' theory". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 30, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Kaste, Martin (September 17, 2015). "Is There A 'War On Police'? The Statistics Say No". NPR.org. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  18. ^ Walker, Savannah (Spring 2018). "Policing Hate: The Problematic Expansion of Louisiana's Hate Crime Statute to Include Police Officers". Louisiana Law Review. 78 (4). Retrieved October 12, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Russell, Jonathan (July 9, 2016). "Here's What's Wrong With #BlueLivesMatter". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 2, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  20. ^ Riddell, Kelly (July 29, 2016). "Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter at odds". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  21. ^ Lennard, Natahsa (July 8, 2016). "After Dallas, We Don't Need to Say 'Blue Lives Matter'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  22. ^ Smith, Jamil (May 26, 2016). "The 'Blue Lives Matter' Bill Is Bullshit". MTV News. MTV. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  23. ^ Craven, Julia (May 25, 2016). "Louisiana's New 'Blue Lives Matter' Law On Cop Killers Is Actually Pretty Redundant (UPDATE)". Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2017 – via Huff Post.
  24. ^ Pyke, Alan (April 18, 2017). "Arizona conservatives finalize redundant, disingenuous 'Blue Lives Matter' law". thinkprogress.org. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  25. ^ Cushing, Tim (March 30, 2016). "Congressman Wants To Make Attacking A Cop A Federal 'Hate' Crime". TechDirt. Archived from the original on July 9, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  26. ^ Anderson, Michelle D. (March 24, 2017). "Kentucky Governor Signs Redundant 'Blue Lives Matter' Law". Rewire.News. Archived from the original on November 8, 2018. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  27. ^ Bedillion, Caleb (January 26, 2017). "'Blue Lives Matter' criticized by ACLU". Daily Journal. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  28. ^ Cooper, Frank Rudy (2020). "Cop Fragility and Blue Lives Matter". Scholarly Commons at UNLV Boyd Law. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  29. ^ Parks, Gregory S.; Cooper, Frank Rudy (February 3, 2022). Fight the Power: Law and Policy through Hip-Hop Songs. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-02236-1.
  30. ^ "Frank Rudy Cooper". University of Nevada, Las Vegas. June 16, 2020. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  31. ^ Boggs, Justin (February 22, 2021). "Capitol Officer: They beat law enforcement with 'Blue Lives Matter' flags". The Denver Channel. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  32. ^ Ackerman, Spencer (January 8, 2021). "Why the 'Blue Lives Matter' Thugs Were So Quick to Kill a Cop". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  33. ^ Blow, Charles (February 14, 2021). "Blue Lives Matter is Over". New York Times. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  34. ^ Attiah, Karen (February 11, 2021). "Opinion: The impeachment videos put the hypocrisy of Blue Lives Matter on full display". Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
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