NAPO Protest Letter to NFL over Black Panther Half-Time Show
February 10, 2016
Dear Commissioner Goodell,
On behalf of the more than 240,000 law enforcement officers represented by our Association, including officers in a sizable majority of the cities represented by the League’s teams, I write to you to condemn in the strongest possible terms your support of cop-killer “entertainment”. Last night’s half-time performance by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter hit an all-time low, even for a League that already turned a blind eye to its players perpetuating the “hands up, don’t shoot” blood libel on American police.
Last night, your League made the jump from slandering police as killers, to celebrating cop-killers themselves. Your Black Panther themed half-time show was an obnoxious spectacle of ignorance and malice. You’ve done your part to make trendy and acceptable the symbols of kidnapping and murder of American police officers. The black berets and high-fisted salutes were a deliberate tribute to the likes of cop-killers H. Rap Brown, Joanne Chesimard and Wesley Cook.
Ms. Knowles-Carter, whose resume includes such all-American items as private performance for the late Libyan dictator Muammar el-Qaddafi’s family, can’t pretend that her act wasn’t deliberately designed to glamorize attacks on police. But what about the NFL? On the same night that hundreds of officers gave up their evenings with their own families to protect you and your players and fans, you honor them by promoting song and dance celebrating cop-killers. Any player who displayed such lunacy and lack of touch with reality would be prohibited from returning to the field under your League’s own brain injury policy. You should do the same and either publicly apologize to America’s men and women in law enforcement, or step aside in favor of someone who can recognize just how much your League and teams owe to the rule of law in this country.
Sincerely,
Michael McHale
President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE ORGANIZATIONS, INC.