“They’re doing it for money” is how National Sheriffs’ Association Executive Director Johnathan Thompson characterized the corporate backing for “Defund the Police” movements across the United States.
Thompson joined the Newell Normand Show on WWL Radio and said honesty is absolutely necessary when it comes to police brutality and bad actors on the force, but that a rush towards extreme solutions would be unwise.
“We’ve got to put some balance back in the discussion,” Thompson said. “Let’s have the discussion. We have to. We have to be honest with ourselves. Where errors are made, let’s fix them. Let’s focus on them. But we’re not doing that. We’re running from one end of the spectrum to the [other] end.
"And corporate America is rushing head over heels to be at the front of the line to make everybody feel as though ‘We knew this was a problem. We are the leaders on this.’ And nothing could be further from the truth. They’re doing it for money. They’re doing it for image. They’re doing it for nothing more than that.”
Thompson said the message from those who want to dismantle police forces across the U.S. is getting pushed forward by big business and that those companies have little interest in justice.
He said they’re only worried about their own bottom lines.
“We’re watching these mega-corporations,” Thompson said, “companies that have billions and billions at their disposal, and they’re choosing to do one thing and that is to push a narrative for nothing other than getting more people to watch their games, to get more people to walk the aisles in their stores, and hopefully they’ll get the sympathy of those they desire to get more money from. And that’s the shocking thing.”
Thompson called out the National Football League in particular as a corporation he believes is on the wrong side of the argument.
“Their spokesman said, ‘We believe in the critical work that our funding recipients have done.’ And my response is you’re right. It is critical work. It’s critical of our society. It’s critical of our economy. It’s critical of the things that are good in this country. But it doesn’t help move things that have to be fixed in this country.”
Thompson said the NFL is looking to the wrong people and the wrong organizations to try and improve the things that need fixing.
“They pour millions upon millions of dollars at these projects and these programs that do nothing for the poor in this country, that do nothing to improve impoverished lives, that do nothing to raise people’s education levels. It does nothing to improve family lives. It does nothing to stop domestic violence. It does nothing to stop smash-and-grab organized crime in this country. Instead it allows a very few, very well-paid executives… to feel good about themselves.”
Related
