If you wonder why people think white supremacy is embedded into policing in Portland? Here’s an example of how it works. And how ‘neutral reportage perpetuates it.

Here’s the two stories from the Oregonian. (I hope you can access them.)

Story breaks: Former controversial sheriff to speak at school resource officer training.Follow up story: Protests ensue, he’s cancelled.

Controversial ex-sheriff from Wisconsin. I saved the first story without reading it, because it’s the kind of thing I might use for one of the Newsroom PDX books. If you’re not familiar with that series, it is about a college newsroom in downtown Portland dealing with the issues of last two years: protests, pandemic, policing, white supremacy and now homelessness, amidst all the personal issues of being 20-something in Portland. I highly recommend the series, LOL, so check it out! (Links at the bottom, so you will read first, then click….)

And a few days later, the organization — the Oregon School Resource Officers Association — canceled the speaker saying they didn’t want a speaker who would be offensive even some of the participants.

If any presenter, in the eyes of some, is going to damage our credibility and/or ability to fulfill that mission, then we will make the necessary changes,” wrote Mike Jackson, association president, and Rick Puente, association vice president. Days earlier, both had defended the choice of Clarke as a guest speaker, saying they weren’t interested in his politics.

— Oregon Live, June 10, 2022

And I thought who are they talking about? Surely they didn’t invite David Clarke to talk about school safety? But there’s the photo.

From the Oregonian’s website, oregonlive.com

And I’m like OMG, an organization that helps police departments who provide officers to schools thought David Clarke was an appropriate speaker? WTH?

And the Oregonian referred to him as a controversial former sheriff from Wisconsin? Are you kidding me?
I suppose they’ll invite the controversial former sheriff Joe Arpaio as his replacement.
So who is David Clarke? He’s a crazy dude who hates Black Lives Matter, and resigned after it was revealed that:

Four people, including a baby, have died in Clarke’s jails since April 2016. One man died of dehydration after being locked in solitary confinement and denied water. According to a lawsuit filed in March, at least 40 women in Clarke’s jails have been shackled while giving birth. One newborn died after a woman was forced to give birth in her cell without medical treatment.

Vanity Fair, September, 2017

He was considered for a post in Homeland Security by the Trump administration, but couldn’t pass the security questions in the Senate confirmation process (which in the Trump administration is truly astounding.) A frequent Fox commentator, he was known for his disparaging, and often racist, comments about Black Lives Matter, protestors, and his support for Donald Trump.

Now he’s on the speaker circuit. Here’s how he’s portrayed there.

Here’s how the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel describes him as a man who Fox won’t even have on its shows because he has been promoting violence.

“Stay disciplined in your anger,” he wrote in a (Parler) post accompanied by a photo of a growling lion. “The left needs to be shown that there WILL be an accounting for what they did to Trump and us for 4 straight years. They will regret this day. Trust God.” 

Milwaukee Sentinel, January, 2021.

So what should the Oregonian headline have been?

Police Association invites far-right, former sheriff David Clarke to speak at a conference for school officers.

Clarke resigned his post after deaths and brutality were revealed in his jail. He was noted for his promotion of violence toward liberals and Black Lives Matter protesters, and defended the actions of those on Jan. 6.

It boggles my mind that any police association would think he was an appropriate speaker for training purposes. But for school police? Really? A man famous for his promotion of violence against protesters and for the brutality in his jails is going to teach your officers stationed in our schools how to better serve the public? I’m not sure which I find more appalling, the original invitation, or the statement about canceling him, about not wanting to offend even a portion of our audience. Either the association leadership are supporters of far-right racist ideology or they are so ignorant they shouldn’t be allowed to train janitors much less school police.

Kudos to the person who spotted what was happening and brought it to the Oregonian’s attention, and to all who protested, and made them back down. Now either demand the resignation of the people who invited him, or boycott the organization. Hate shouldn’t be a part of the curriculum.

It’s not the only case like this where former police officers go on the speakers’ circuit and offer training to our law enforcement. Here’s a similar story from J.J. MacNab, who studies and writes about extremism:

Yikes. This is everything that’s wrong in law enforcement all wrapped up in one tidy tweet.

Quote Tweet
Sheriff Dave Marshak
May 27

If you are open to learning why kids kill, how to train LE to be warriors, and the consequences then start your journey here. Preparing police for battle requires work, which is why we are proud to host Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman @GrossmanAcademy and founder of #killology

@jjmacnab

Or this story out of Spokane:

Spokane cops read children’s book authored by controversial ‘Killology’ trainer to preschoolers

What we say we want from law enforcement isn’t what they’re being trained to do. If we train them to be warriors that’s what they become. If you teach them hate and racism, that’s what they know. To combat that, we have to work at the local levels, to take a serious look at how our police are trained.

And David Clarke, former sheriff and right-wing extremist, isn’t what we need.

Oh yes. Check out Newsroom PDX — one reviewer called the books ‘dystopian fiction from today’s headlines.’ And you can bet David Clarke as trainer for school police officers will be making his appearance one of these days.

Here’s where you can buy the omnibus version.

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