Student journalists revealed that Kentucky State Police training materials once had quotes attributed to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Confederate General Robert E. Lee, according to BET. On Friday (October 30), two students from DuPoint Manual High School in Louisville posted this information online on the school's newspaper, The Manuel RedEye.
A slideshow even instructed cadets to be warriors who "always fight to the death" and to be a "ruthless killer." Another slide, titled "Violence of Action" directs future troopers to have “a mindset void of emotion” and to “meet violence with greater violence.
This reveal may cause more controversy as the contention around Breonna Taylor's shooting death grows. Taylor was a Black medical worker who was fatally shot multiple times while Louisville Metro police were executing a warrant. The slides were also met with condemnation from public figures.
“My full response on the KSP training slides: This is disgusting. I certainly hope this powerpoint does not reflect the current training for KSP or any law enforcement officer entity. The tone and tenor are overtly white, Christian, male, warlike and adversarial,” Louisville Urban League President Sadiqa Reynolds tweeted.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear also reacted to the training slides, calling it "absolutely unacceptable." "It is further unacceptable that I just learned about this through social media. We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action,” Beshear said in a Friday statement.
Kentucky State Police spokesperson Lieutenant Joshua Lawson sent the student newspaper this statement: “The quotes are used for their content and relevance to the topic addressed in the presentation. The presentation touches on several aspects of service, selflessness, and moral guidance. All of these topics go to the fundamentals of law enforcement such as treating everyone equally, service to the public, and being guided by the law.”
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