February 2021


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com Your Opinion Matters


Was the insurrection an inside job?


in Law Enforcement, the report is a comprehensive exploration of racism in law enforcement.


It documents


notes ties between law enforcement and "violent


racist and militant


groups." It says that the FBI has not appropriately responded to the threat that is posed from this connection. But, according to German, “Despite the FBI's acknowledgement of the links between law enforcement and these suspected terrorists, the Justice Department has no national strategy designed to identify white supremacist police officers or to protect the safety and civil rights of the communities they patrol.”


BY DR. JULIANNE MALVEAUX If you watched the disgraceful


invasion of the United States Capitol and the horrific destruction that took place on January 6, you observed a legion of limited-intelligence low-life louts. But you’d be mistaken if that’s all you thought of the Trump-incited mob.


Those people could not have


infiltrated the Capitol without the help of some "law enforcement" officers in the Capitol. Somebody had to open locked doors and side entrances. Somebody had to tell the invaders where certain Congressional offices were.


officers took selfies with the invaders and treated


And too many Capitol police them


Why were the Capitol police so


woefully unprepared for the throngs of people who had been communicating by Internet since an unhinged 45th President invited them to the Capitol weeks ago, on December 18? Contrast that under preparation to the army of thousands that Black


Lives


activists faced this summer. contrast was stark.


about


Matter The


After the invasion passed, many speculated


Why shouldn't the inside


nature of this invasion. Some of the Capitol police seemed to feel quite comfortable, even chummy, with the invaders.


they be?


Some members of the mob might be their cousins. relationship


between so-called


There is a historical law


enforcement and white supremacy, so it is easy to believe that the Capitol invaders may have had help from the inside.


We could go into history to explore the founding of the Ku Klux Klan and its purpose to terrorize and otherwise oppress Black people. We could explore how many Klan members were also "law enforcement" officers. In Wilmington, North Carolina, we could consider how sheriffs deputized more than two hundred racist civilians to force Black people to turn their property over to them and leave town. But if we had to go back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, that would allow us to talk about how much our nation has changed instead of focusing on the intransigence of the myth of white supremacy.


Michael German connection.


DC-based Brennan Center for Justice released a report in the fall


of the that


explored law enforcement and white supremacists'


Titled,


Hidden in Plain Sight: Racism, White Supremacy, and Far-Right Militancy


courtesy., going so far as to open doors for them and even walk them down steps.


with extreme


The Brennan report appropriately notes that “only a tiny percentage of law enforcement officials are likely to be active members of white supremacist groups.” But even a tenth of a percent is enough. It only takes one-armed white supremacist to aid and abet the terrorists who stormed the Capitol. a door.


It only takes one to unlock It only takes one to turn the


other way as terrorists bring weapons into the Capitol.


The Brennan report documents several cases of white supremacists law enforcement “officers” who collect Klan


paraphernalia, participate in


racist social media posts, rant rhetoric on their government-issued radios, and more.


Few face any consequences. Some have supervisors or police chiefs who look the other way. Others have police union backing and often claim


their First Amendment free


speech rights. How does their racism affect their ability to enforce the law? Ask Breona Taylor, or George Floyd, or Tamir Rice or Sandra Bland.


Why have federal, state, and


local law enforcement failed to tackle evidence of virulent racism among police officers? No wonder there is so little trust between law enforcement and the Black community.


were an active attempt to combat law


enforcement racism, it


If there would


be almost unthinkable that anyone could see the Trump insurrection as an inside job. But there has been no such attempt, perhaps because too many police officers are either outright racists or have sympathy with these racists.


What to do? In March 2019, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin (D) introduced the Domestic Terrorism Prevention


Act. It gained 22


cosponsors but was never put on the floor for a vote. Durbin has now said he will reintroduce the legislation soon. The Brennan report offers other recommendations, including diversity training, anti-racist enforcement, and the development of a database for law enforcement officers, since so many move from city to city, carrying their racist attitudes with them.


this Trump insurrection? One can’t insurrection write without


Was there an inside job with It is likely,


and I look forward to the inevitable investigation and its results.


about noting


the the


murder of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick. He was doing his work and defending the Capitol, and its flag has been flying half-mast in his honor. It is telling that the White House has not lowered its flag, perhaps because they so forcefully incited the terrorists who invaded our Capitol. Inside job? The rot goes straight to the top.


Dedication ceremony at the Hank Aaron Boyhood Home Museum at the Hank Aaron Stadium, Mobile, Alabama on April 14, 2010. Photo courtesy of LOC, Carol M. Highsmith's America


BY KURTIS ALSTON Hank Aaron played 23 seasons in


Major League Baseball and is second in home-run hits with 755. “Hammerin Hank” debuted with the Milwaukee Braves at 20-years-old in 1954; he would spend 21 seasons in a Braves uniform. He has a record of 20 seasons of 20 or more homers and hit home runs off 310 different pitchers; of those pitchers 13 are Hall of Famers. When he finally ran his last lap around the diamond he held major- league career records in extra-base hits (1,447), total bases (6,865), and RBI (2,297); the last two records he still holds to this day.


Aaron has numerous accolades.


He collected 3,000 hits and he would have still collected those amounts of hits without the home runs. He finished his career with 3,771 hits, batting .305 and winning two batting titles. When he hit his 3,000th ball on May 17, 1970, he was the first player in history to join the 3,000th hit and 500 home run clubs.


Aaron won National League MVP in 1957 and helped Milwaukee win the World Series in that same season. This was the franchise’s second, of their three World Series titles. On top


Moratoriums immediate


FROM PAGE 1


and foreclosure moratoriums on federally-backed


extension of eviction


mortgages. In order to provide much-needed economic relief and support to working families, HUD has implemented the President’s requests.


at risk of eviction or foreclosure because of the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding economic crisis, and the Biden Administration


“Millions of Americans are


pursuing a comprehensive strategy to prevent widespread housing loss. As we have seen throughout the pandemic, this looming wave of evictions and foreclosures disproportionately communities


is


executive actions are a critical first step to ensure that families hit hard by the economic crisis will not be forced from their homes during their time of need.


of color.


impacts These


single family extended Administration


“Specifically, HUD has the


Federal


and foreclosure moratorium until March 31, 2021 and extended the


(FHA) eviction Housing


(PIH) eviction and foreclosure moratorium until March 31, 2021. “Failing to prevent widespread


Public and Indian Housing


evictions and foreclosures would lead to untold hardship for families and to overwhelmed emergency shelter


likelihood of COVID-19 spread in our communities. The Biden Administration


capacity,


using the tools at its disposal and to working with Congress to help struggling households keep a roof over their heads. These agency actions support the


is committed to


strategy by immediately extending nationwide restrictions on evictions and foreclosures.”


Administration’s broader increasing the


of that achievement, he was nominated to be an All-Star, a record-breaking 25 times and also won three Gold Gloves and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Aaron was nine votes short of being the first player to be a unanimous inductee.


After his baseball career, he kept surrounding himself with the game. He worked in the Braves front office and although he wasn’t running around the diamond and giving the fans excitement by breaking records, he still gave back to society. In 1995, he started Chasing the Dream Foundation to help children between the ages of nine and 12 realize their dreams.


the first Jackie Robinson Lifetime Achievement


the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum honoring, his “career excellence


In February 2003, Aaron received Legacy Award from in


the face of adversity.” Philanthropist Muhammad Ali said Aaron was “the only man I idolize more than myself.” Sadly, Hank Aaron took his last lap on January 22, 2021. He left his wife Billye and their children, Gaile, Hank, Jr., Lary, Dorinda, and Ceci, and their grandchildren to grieve his death.


The Hampton Roads Messenger 5


The last home run of Hank Aaron


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