{"id":461462,"date":"2021-04-29T09:35:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=461462"},"modified":"2021-04-29T09:35:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:35:39","slug":"police-officer-rips-lebron-demagoguery-against-police-officers-ends-up-hurting-minorities-in-long-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/police-officer-rips-lebron-demagoguery-against-police-officers-ends-up-hurting-minorities-in-long-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Officer Rips LeBron: \u2018Demagoguery Against Police Officers\u2019 Ends Up Hurting Minorities In Long Run"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpolice-officer-rips-lebron-demagoguery-against-police-officers-ends-up-hurting-minorities-in-long-run%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=461462&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4044.jpeg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>Deon Joseph, a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/well-known-police-officer-deon-joseph-writes-letter-to-lebron-requests-meeting-following-attack-on-cop\">well-known<\/a> Los Angeles Police Department officer, explained during an interview on Wednesday why he wrote a letter reaching out to NBA star LeBron James after James targeted a police officer on social media, saying he hopes to change James\u2019 mind about the police because continuing to demonize law enforcement ends up hurting minority communities over time.<\/p>\n<p>Joseph said that he used to view the police the same way that James did because of the music that he listened to, an activist group he joined when he was young, and prior negative encounters that he had with law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, I\u2019m tired of vitriol. I\u2019m tired of the demagoguery against police officers and it\u2019s so broad and it\u2019s also dangerous because as that\u2019s happening, we have political figures who are buying off on it,\u201d Joseph said. \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t mind Joe on the corner, on social media all day watching collages of cop hate videos is upset. But when we start hearing our politicians espousing the same rhetoric, that\u2019s when it\u2019s time to be concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what they end up doing is tire tying our hands over time, and actually hurting people of color in some of the most marginalized communities that we we signed up to serve and protect as well,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<div id>\n<p><em>STEVE DOOCY, FOX NEWS HOST:\u00a0 All right. A Los Angeles law enforcement consultant is calling foul on LeBron James\u2019 now-deleted tweet the targeted an Ohio police officer involved in a deadly shooting. In an open letter to LeBron James, Deon Joseph invites him to sit down and have a conversation with him on the matter, writing, \u2018the tweet itself was the embodiment of hatred rooted in a lack of understanding of the danger of the situation. The offer is on the table LeBron, no cameras, no fanfare, just two men who care talking. This division and hatred must stop.\u2019 LeBron has yet to respond. But the ball is now in his court. And Deon Joseph, who wrote that open letter to LeBron James joins us live right now. Deon, good morning to you.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DEON JOSEPH, POLICE OFFICER:\u00a0 Good morning. How are you?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: I\u2019m great. Thank you very much. Why did you write this?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH:\u00a0 Well, I wrote it for several reasons. But one of the reasons is, I felt really horrible for that officer \u2026 in Ohio who had to make a really tough decision, especially with a young lady who was so young. And I said to myself, that actually could have been me four times in my career, I was almost in a deadly shooting, like literally this close. And I remember one time, it was a young man who was about 19 years old, I\u2019m off duty. And I\u2019m seeing people run away from this guy screaming that he had a gun, and I was this close to shooting that man. And I thought, if I would have shot that young man, everything that I\u2019ve done in my career, to try to help the homeless, to try to put them into housing, to try to create an environment conducive to change, to bring awareness to help women in Skid Row, that would have been thrown out the window because someone like him who has so much power, so much prestige and influence, could easily turn 50 million human beings against this hard working blue collar guy who\u2019s going to end up being the most hated man in America. So, that\u2019s one good reason why I really wanted to step up and to start speaking up for the vast majority of decent offices just doing a tough job.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: Sure and when you look at what we know, so far, regarding that incident, in Columbus, Ohio, which prompted LeBron James to put up that tweet that got you going, and inviting him to sit down with [you], had you been that police officer in the same situation, what would you have done?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH: I probably would have done the same thing. My goal is to save lives. Like I said, every morning, I pray that I never, ever, have to take a life. And once again, I feel so sorry for the family of that young lady. But unfortunately, the officer had to try to save a life in a split second \u2026 and people don\u2019t understand how fast these things happen. They really have to understand how fast they happen.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: You told one of the foxnews.com people you said, I was LeBron James before I became a police officer. What does that mean?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH: \u2026 I was a young, African American male in society. And when I came up, I came up in the late 80s and 90s and early 90s. So that was a very violent and turbulent time. But also, it was a time of anti-police sentiment where, you know, we had the Rodney King incident \u2026 and all these other things. And all my family and friends, we kind of had to share this monolithic view that all police were inherently our enemy. They were our natural enemy. I mean, I joined the activist group in high school that all we talked about was how bad the police were and this and that, and, you know, and also, I was just bombarded at the time with Hollywood movies that depict the cops in a negative light. My favorite rap groups were NWA, Public Enemy, \u2026 they were guiding me. It\u2019s almost like a steady indoctrination, to the thought that all police are bad enough. And also I had a couple of negative encounters with police that didn\u2019t sit well and help me made me forget about the good contacts, because you never remember the good, you always remember the trauma. And my mind changed when I had no choice but to be a police officer. I did not want to be a cop. But once I stepped across that line, I discovered that the vast majority of police officers are just hard working decent human beings from all walks of life. And that 90% of what\u2019s said about police officers is just not true. We\u2019re not perfect. Yes, there\u2019s a negative exception. But there\u2019s an honorable rule to them that we need to talk about them as well, to get balance.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: And Deon, that exactly is why you want LeBron James, to reach out to you. You guys just sit down, no cameras, no nothing, just so that you can explain to him what goes on in your squad car and what the average police officer faces in a day because as you pointed out, there have been times in your career where you have to make a split second decision that could impact the rest of your life.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH:\u00a0 Absolutely. Absolutely. That\u2019s all I want is to humanize each other. You know, I\u2019m tired of vitriol. I\u2019m tired of the demagoguery against police officers and it\u2019s so broad and it\u2019s also dangerous because as that\u2019s happening, we have political figures who are buying off on it. You know, I don\u2019t mind Joe on the corner, on social media all day watching collages of cop hate videos is upset. But when we start hearing our politicians espousing the same rhetoric, that\u2019s when it\u2019s time to be concerned. And what they end up doing is tire tying our hands over time, and actually hurting people of color in some of the most marginalized communities that we we signed up to serve and protect as well.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: Sure, and Deon, it\u2019s not just politicians. I\u2019ve read reports about the Oscar cast. I didn\u2019t watch the Oscars. But apparently there were a number of people who were talking about police and it was not favorable.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH: Yes, I heard that too. And it was disheartening, because prior to this new wave of anti police mentality, a lot of these celebrities have relationships with police officers, they knew officers, they had police officers that are security and body guards, and we would stand by and protect them at their events. And it was just unfortunate that these once again, these people who have influence, well intended, but not informed, you know, and when you don\u2019t talk to the other side, you know, and you buy into a one sided narrative about any group, that can be dangerous, you can end up putting not just cops in danger, but also the public that we\u2019re trying to help as well.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>DOOCY: Deon, I think it would be great if LeBron James took you up on your offer. And not only just sit, sit down and talk about your job and what people in uniform face, but it would be great if you could take him on a ride around, a ride along, so he could see what you do. He could interface with the people you see every day, what\u2019s the one thing he would see that he does not know right now?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>JOSEPH: Well, I think he would see the relationships that we do have, you know, if you step away from the TV set, if you step away from your smart device, you\u2019ll see that relationship I have with the community I serve, they\u2019re like my family, you know. I\u2019m in a pandemic, and I have to stop some homeless person from trying to kiss me on the cheek now because, you know, because I don\u2019t want the coronavirus again. But, uh, but you know, to see that, you know, we do care about the people we serve, sometimes we don\u2019t have time to show it. Look, when crime is high, like it\u2019s getting right now, a police officer only has time to show you what he does. But when we\u2019re able to work together with the community and build relationships and drive crime down, we can show who we are. Now I\u2019ve been able to master the art of both. But I would like to work with someone like LeBron, who has some influence, who can influence all communities together, meet with police, again, to create this synergy where, you know, they understand the job we have. And also they can hear from us that we do care about them and want to make things better. We may not always agree, but there\u2019s no hatred in our hearts towards any sector of the community. You know, it\u2019s just some communities may be worse than others that would need our attention. But their skin is not their sin, disparity doesn\u2019t always equal bias. You know, sometimes it\u2019s just the data that drives us to the community. When you have 20 people getting stabbed on one block, we have to be there. And if we\u2019re not people die.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><i><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i><span>member<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Deon Joseph, a\u00a0well-known Los Angeles Police Department officer, explained during an interview on Wednesday why he wrote a letter reaching out to NBA star LeBron James after James targeted a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2276984,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4044.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Police Officer Rips LeBron: \u2018Demagoguery Against Police Officers\u2019 Ends Up Hurting Minorities In Long Run","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-461462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-4044.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"Police Officer Rips LeBron: \u2018Demagoguery Against Police Officers\u2019 Ends Up Hurting Minorities In Long Run","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}