Facebook post sparks outcry, apology
Councilwoman in Nevada City blamed shootings in Dallas on police ‘directives to go out there and kill.’
A councilwoman in Northern California issued an apology over the weekend after she was criticized for saying the ambush of Dallas law enforcement officers last week was “completely incited by America’s police force.”
In a Facebook post Friday, Nevada City Councilwoman Reinette Senum blamed the shooting on police “directives to go out there and kill.”
“It’s insane and it’s meant to create mayhem,” she wrote.
Senum said shootings such as the one in Dallas are expected “when the police murder somebody.”
“This is the oldest trick in the book . ... it brings out more violence!!! It’s a terrible cycle that always escalates into something worse. Thus forcing us to ask ourselves, who is benefiting from this? THAT’s the answer I want to get to,” she said.
Five police officers were killed and several other people injured during a Black Lives Matter protest march Thursday night in Dallas. Police said Micah Xavier Johnson, a 25-year-old Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, was the sole shooter. He was killed by a bomb-deploying police robot during a standoff with police.
Senum’s comment drew outrage from the Nevada City Police Assn. and others who said she was insensitive. The councilwoman debated with commenters on Facebook and defended her statements.
“I don’t support any kind of killing of anyone. What I am against is the corruption. What I expect from this kind of senseless action from our police force is MORE SENSELESS KILLINGS! One killing does not justify another,” she said.
She apologized Saturday in a lengthy Facebook post, saying she did not intend to vilify the city’s police force, “but to point out a welldocumented trend that is causing a public backlash towards the police.”
“I also apologize for using such a broad brush that our local officers felt they were included in my statement,” she said.
But Senum’s apology came too late for many.
More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Senum’s resignation.
Officer Tim Ewing, president of the police association, told KOVR-TV that officers have given Senum a vote of no confidence and are asking for her resignation.
The Nevada County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. said Senum’s comments were “wholly unacceptable and inflammatory.”
“Inciting more hate in the face of a hate-based tragedy is enough by itself, but accusing peace officers, the very ones she now has power over, of having orders to kill and reaping what they sow when they’re murdered is appalling,” the association said.