http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/288080-cleveland-cop-obama-has-blood-on-his-hands-after-baton-rougeJuly 17, 2016, 02:01 pm
Cleveland cop: Obama ‘has blood on his hands’ after Baton Rouge
By Joe Concha
Following the Baton Rouge police shooting Sunday that killed three officers and injured at least three others, Fox News invited Cleveland Detective Steve Loomis to discuss the situation as the story continued to unfold.
Loomis, who is also president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, didn't hold back from assigning blame during his interview with anchor Harris Faulkner.
"It's absolutely insane that we have a president of the United States and a governor of Minnesota making the statements they made less than one day after the police-involved shootings," said an emotional Loomis.
"And those police-involved shootings, make no mistake, are what absolutely have triggered this rash of senseless murders of law enforcement officers across this country. It's reprehensible. And the president of the United States has blood on his hands that will not be able to come washed off."
Loomis was referring to statements made by President Obama and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) one day after the shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn., by a police officer during a traffic stop.
The immediate aftermath of the shooting — which included a bloodied Castile lying motionless in the car — was recorded by Castile's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, and broadcast on Facebook Live. The footage was replayed repeatedly for days on the news, sparking national outrage and protests.
"When incidents like this occur, there’s a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same, and that hurts, and that should trouble all of us,” Obama said in a statement the following day. “This is not just a black issue, not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we all should care about.”
Dayton's comments caused an even bigger stir after he asked: "Would this have happened if the driver were white, if the passengers were white? I don’t think it would have.”
The same week, at a protest against police violence in Dallas, five officers were shot and killed by a lone gunman who was reportedly targeting white police officers.
Loomis cast blame against the media, celebrities and athletes later in the interview with Faulkner.
"How the hell did we ever become the bad guys in this country?" he asked of police officers. "I cannot imagine how we got here. It's the irresponsible reporting of the media.
“And the irresponsible statements of people that are credible like the president of the United States," added Loomis, who also pointed a finger at celebrities and athletes for "pushing a false narrative" against police officers.
Loomis also called on Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) to ban the open carrying of guns in Cuyahoga County this week during the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Cleveland.
