Cops, sheriffs cheer for President Trump and his restoration of military equipment
Organizations representing county sheriffs and local police chiefs on Saturday applauded President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for their efforts to rescind former President Barack Obama’s ban on the transfer of military hardware from the Defense Department
Obama’s politically-motivated restrictions included a ban on armored vehicles, hi-powered machine guns, and other military surplus equipment, according to officials with the National Sheriffs Association (NSA) and the National Association of Chiefs of police.
Jonathan Thompson, the executive director of the National Sheriffs Association, referenced the new policy in telling fellow law officers: “You have a friend who is listening, who is doing exactly what law enforcement has wanted for years.”
Conservative Base editor, Jim Kouri, an advisory board member of the 13,000-member National Association of Chiefs of Police — and a former law enforcement chief, director of public safety and director of security — said, “The Obama ban was a knee-jerk reaction to the riots in U.S. cities in which police officers relied on military hardware to protect themselves. As usual Obama and his White House crew lied when they insinuated cops were using military-style weapons. They weren’t. They used protective gear to prevent injuries to — and the deaths of — cops attempting to control violent mobs.”
Republican Victory Over Democrats and Clinton
In a Dec. 2, 2016 news analysis column, Conservative Base reported that Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton was the result of a number of actions that the news media chose to ignore, but the American people still discovered. For example, an overwhelming number of law enforcement fraternal and labor organizations broke ranks from the rest of the unions to endorse candidate Trump. That included the federal officers with the U.S. Border Patrol, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and the nation’s largest police union representing local and state police, the Fraternal Order of Police with more than 300,000 members and affiliates.
Now many cops are urging President Trump and his Attorney General to rescind Obama’s Executive Order 13688 which was meant to decrease the protection of police officers by reducing their self-defense capabilities. The goal was to appease rioters, activists and certain politicians who felt threatened by police officers based on “how the cops looked.”
According to 13688, high-tech weapons, equipment and vehicles are to be confiscated from law enforcement agencies across the country by the Obama administration despite the country’s sheriffs and lawmakers complaining that the equipment is more than ever necessary to protect communities from violence including incidents perpetrated by jihadists who are expected to attempt a repeat of attacks occurring in France, Belgium and other countries.
Sheriffs such as Arizona’s Joe Arpaio and Wisconsin’s David Clarke have complained that losing armored vehicles and other equipment that are defensive not offensive will place police officers and sheriffs’ deputies, in addition to their communities, at risk from violent crime, riots and terrorism.
“These things are useful tools and the president taking them away will put more officers in jeopardy and at risk of harm or even death. I don’t know how he can sleep at night knowing his actions will have those repercussions,” argues Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Alabama.
Rogers explained that President Obama had issued Executive Order 13688 after the anti-police riots in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, and other riots. Amid the violence, there was outcry by liberal-left activists and Democrat lawmakers about the alleged “militarization” of the police while there was practically silence about the rioters looting and torching businesses.
