Black law enforcement officers are speaking out against police unions nationwide after most of them have supported President Donald Trump's reelection, according to WTHR. While protests against police brutality and racial injustice occur across the country, Black officers say their concerns are being ignored.
"We are members of these unions, and they don't take into consideration our feelings about Donald J. Trump, then they don't care about us and ... they don't care about our dues," Rochelle Bilal said, who is a former president of the Guardian Civic League of Philadelphia. She also called the National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)'s endorsement of Trump an "outrage." National union leaders argue that the process is designed to give everyone a voice, and the endorsement represents the majority of police officers.
"I am a Black American and a Black law enforcement officer," Rob Pride said, the National Fraternal Order of Police chair of trustees. "It's been emotionally a rollercoaster ride for me since the George Floyd incident. It was horrific." He also said the political climate, which was supercharged from Floyd's death in Minneapolis, "is tearing America apart" and affecting the FOP. "We could probably have an hourlong conversation about why some folks feel President Trump is racist and why others disagree," he said. "But there are a lot of officers of all races of all backgrounds who feel he best represents and supports the interests of law enforcement."
Trump repeatedly touted support for the law enforcement community, which has received accusations of racism and calls for defunding on local levels. Some of these police unions have publicly announced their support for a presidential candidate for the first time. "He's running on what he calls a "law and order" platform and tapping into a strain of anger and frustration felt by law enforcement who believe they are being unfairly accused of racial discrimination," WTHR reported.
Meanwhile, other Black law enforcement organizations are coming together to push back against these endorsements. For example, some of these groups hosted an October conference in Philadelphia to "condemn Trump endorsements and the process they say ignored their concerns over what they perceived to be racist remarks, support for white supremacist groups and a lack of respect for women from Trump."
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