Police officers boycotted President Obama’s Labor Day address in Boston after what they called a “horror show” of violence against police, complete with no show of support for law enforcement by Obama.
Jerry Flynn, the executive director of the New England Police Benevolence Association, told the Boston Herald that the association’s members “are enraged at his lack of support of law enforcement. It’s clear that he has an agenda, and unfortunately the police are not part of his agenda.”
Flynn went on to say that it’s unacceptable that the police should continue to feel unprotected by the commander in chief, and that even a statement denouncing the killings would be better than nothing.
“Let’s face it, (there have been) eight people killed in a nine-day period, eight police officers, and his silence up until recently has been deafening. And the real sad part of this — and when I went to the White House in the first term with Joe Biden — he said to me that he would be the voice of law enforcement. Well, as much as I love and adore Joe, his voice has been silent as well. So it’s not an Obama problem, it’s an administration problem,” Flynn said in his statement to the Herald.
Flynn also expressed anger that the president chose to attend a unity breakfast instead of the memorial service for the slain police Deputy Darren Goforth in Houston, which Flynn says was attended by nearly 7,000. He called out Attorney General Loretta Lynch as well, asking if she would defend police where Obama has failed.
“He’s got a new attorney general, what’s her agenda? What is her message going to be, that she’s actually putting forth? I don’t know the answer to that question,” Flynn said.
Similarly, in December 2014, NYPD police officers turned their backs on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio during the mayor’s eulogy of the slain NYPD officers after the mayor’s unsupportive response, saying he had to “train” his biracial son to fear police. (RELATED: [VIDEO] NYPD Turn Backs To DeBlasio)
“But certainly, what he’s doing now, what he hasn’t done now, has been supportive of those in law enforcement,” Flynn said at the conclusion of his statement.