ABC chief global affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz didn't seem too worried about the number of police officers killed during violent protests in American cities during the last week on Sunday's "This Week."
Thankfully, Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf was Raddatz's guest and set her straight.
Wolf acknowledged that peaceful protest is part of the American way but rebuked the violence that has accompanied many of the protests and led to the targeting of law enforcement officers:
We want to let peaceful protesters provide that environment for them to exercise their First Amendment. But at the end of the day, this is about law and order. This is a country built on law and order, and we're going to address those protesters that are destroying businesses, that are targeting law enforcement officers.
Raddatz responded by callously saying, "there have not been too many examples in the last few days," and added, "Now look, law enforcement is a difficult job, and there were senseless acts of violence against some officers. Certainly establishments as well, but these protests were prompted because of the violent death of George Floyd, by police officers."
Not missing a beat, Raddatz then flipped the blame to police officers for using force with protesters and played several clips for Wolf of officers getting physical with crowds.
Wolf responded by saying, "Let me first say that the outrage that Americans are feeling today about the death of George Floyd is very real, it's very legitimate, and we need to address that. And I think the President has been very clear about that."
He also added that officers like the ones in Minneapolis should be held accountable when they abuse their authority and that in every profession there exist people who are "criminals."
Wolf continued:
Let me just say that for DHS this hits home. We had a fellow protective officer last Friday over a week ago targeted and assassinated, shot in the head as he was responding to a protest. So, this hits very close to home for the Department of Homeland Security.
So, when we talk about attacks on law enforcement, it's not an abstract idea. We are seeing them being targeted, and we need to make sure that the violence that's going on in cities across America, and again, it's diminished. I acknowledge that. It does not continue, and so that's a real concern that law enforcement who are sent out there and do their job every day, protecting the American people every day, they have a right to do their job and to go home back to their families safe.
Ignoring his statement, Raddatz brought the attention back to the videos she showed, asking if they "disturbed" him. Wolf once again pointed out that officers need to be held responsible for their actions but refused to ignore the blatant attacks on police officers around the country:
So again, as I indicated. I think you have -- you need to make sure that all law enforcement is acting correctly, doing their jobs correctly, and when they are not, they need to be held accountable.
So, some of the images that you showed as well as others, we need to make sure we investigate. And again, if the evidence shows they did not do their job correctly, they did not do the way they were trained to do, we need to hold them accountable. That's what we're doing in the George Floyd case.
Again, the President has directed the Department of Justice to launch a civil rights investigation there. So, there's a number of steps we're doing. We'll continue to do that. I think we can always do better. We can do more, but again, we need to also focus -- while we're focusing on some of the police, we also need to focus on what has occurred over the last week in cities across America: burning churches, defacing monuments. We cannot let that go on, and I think as we talk about what the police is doing, we also need to talk about what they're up against every day as well.
