Black Lives Matter Draws Fire From Former NY Police Commissioner

Black Lives Matter was blasted by the former New York police commissioner last week during an appearance on a radio program. The former top cop, Raymond Kelly, called the people involved in the organization “ridiculous.”

This attack on Black Lives Matter certainly isn’t a new thing, but Kelly becomes the latest high profile, law enforcement officer to lend his voice to the attacks. The comments come around the same time the organization is spreading across the pond.

A Black Lives Matter organization staged a shutdown of Great Britain’s major airports over the weekend. Kelly was talking about protestors closer to home, those involved in the Millions March. Kelly said the following on the John Gambling Show, on AM 970.

“They’re silly, and they are not going to impact on anything. It is so ridiculous and myopic… this one group is concerned about black lives more than any other group.”

The New York Daily News reports he added groups like Black Lives Matter doesn’t do anything but “depress” police officers.

At the same time when he made those comments, Kelly made sure to point out he believed some of the recent shootings of unarmed black men needed to be investigated. The former commissioner said there have been some questionable shootings and the “optics” look bad.

Kelly also said he understands that police are human beings who can make mistakes. He also said that a “vast majority” of cops do a good job. He threw in that major beneficiaries of the crime reduction across the United States are communities with minorities.

The former commissioner is certainly a voice that some will listen to when it comes to the movement. He was the longest serving commissioner until he was replaced by Bill Bratton.

Bratton is stepping down later this month, but both of them are considered men who understand policing better than anyone else. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who believe Kelly is part of the problem when it comes to relations between communities in New York.

In particular, those supporting the Black Lives Matter movement point to Kelly’s stop and frisk policies for one of the reasons the black community and police have been at odds. Even worse, some activists believe that the kind of comments Kelly made are indicative of a number of people who want to keep the black community under their thumb.

Erica Garner, who has become a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter community, is one of those who holds this belief. The daughter of one of the unarmed black men who has been shot, Eric Garner thinks Kelly is saying these things because was scared.

Garner also seemed to insinuate Kelly holds some rather racist views and doesn’t want the “new day” that is dawning to arrive. Others have said Kelly holds a viewpoint that many others in a certain segment hold.

The wide-ranging new platform of a coalition growing out of the Black Lives Matter movement includes harsh… https://t.co/dQSkOdBZtV

— PalestinianChristian (@PsChristians) August 7, 2016

This segment seems to miss the point of the Black Lives Matter movement altogether. Activists have long said the point of the movement isn’t to hold up African-American lives as somehow more important than others.

Instead, this group simply wants people to look at black lives mattering as much as white lives. The activists believe so far, their lives have been looked at as somehow being less important. Rudy Giuliani had recently given a speech where he also seemed to miss the point.

CNN reports back in the middle of July that Giuliani had called Black Lives Matter “inherently racist.” This kind of comment, the activists claim, is something that not only misses the point of the organizations involved but also does so intentionally.

[Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images]