GOP witness Dan Bongino fails to say police brutality at congressional listening to

Fox Information contributor and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino was invited by Republicans to testify at Tuesday’s Home Judiciary Committee listening to on police brutality. However Bongino didn’t point out the topic even as soon as in his opening assertion.

As a substitute, Bongino selected to focus on the dangers inherent to the job of policing, which doesn’t rank among the many high 10 most harmful careers, in accordance with knowledge from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whereas Bongino did admit there was have to “decide to police accountability,” he warned legislators to not shred “the skinny wall between civilization and chaos.” He additionally tried to place police reform as a private assault on cops themselves, reasonably than the establishment as an entire — an indication that not less than some conservatives are staking out the place that much less, no more, must be executed regarding the challenge of police brutality.

Bongino started his testimony by highlighting his private relationship with NYPD officer Dan O’Sullivan, who was injured throughout a 1998 cease to help a stranded motorist.

“Dan was the very essence of a public servant. Dan all the time put himself final, whereas placing his dedication to the security and safety of the general public first,” Bongino stated, earlier than asserting that almost all cops are usually not dangerous individuals. “These are good women and men.”

He did add a caveat to his assertion by admitting there are some officers who “aren’t suited to the job and who trigger bother, and typically worse.” However Bongino additionally stated that dangerous legislation enforcement officers are “uncommon,” in his expertise, and “turning into rarer” He was basically making the “few dangerous apples” argument.

However as Vox’s Sean Illing beforehand defined, the issue is systemic racism, not just a few rogue officers.

Bongino invoked imagery valorizing the police, together with NYPD officers and New York firefighters operating into burning buildings on 9/11, and stated the motion to defund the police would goal these heroes. Although this tactic has been efficient up to now, new polling reveals that it might have reached its limits. In accordance with a Washington Put up-Schar College ballot of 1,006 US adults taken June 2-7, 69 % of People stated the police killing of George Floyd represents a broader downside inside legislation enforcement.

That notion has grown over the previous couple of years. In 2014, when protests erupted after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner was killed in New York Metropolis, simply 43 % described these deaths as “indicative of broader issues in policing,” the Washington Put up reported.

Unusually lacking from Bongino’s testimony was any point out of police violence or brutality. Whereas different witnesses cited repeated acts of police violence towards Black individuals and the continuing Black Lives Matter protests, Bongino as a substitute painted an image of policing as a disturbing job, the place violence towards the general public is the one factor preserving communities secure at night time.

“I obtain an e mail or a textual content just a few occasions a yr notifying me concerning the dying or harm of a police officer I knew or labored with,” Bongino stated. “Think about if that was occurring at your job. God forbid you came upon that co-workers of yours had been killed or injured in the middle of doing their jobs. And also you obtained these messages a number of occasions every year. That’s policing. That’s what they do. They danger their very own lives for yours.”

Lastly, Bongino urged committee members to drop discuss of police reform “earlier than somebody will get damage,” ignoring dozens of situations of cops injuring protesters over the past two weeks, to not point out centuries of police violence towards Black individuals within the US. His assertion felt misplaced in contrast with these of different witnesses who calmly detailed situations of police brutality and smart reform proposals.

Even different Republican-invited witnesses on the listening to, like Pastor Darrell Scott, a former member of President Donald Trump’s transition group, harassed the necessity for police reforms equivalent to banning chokeholds or making a nationwide database of officers who’re fired for misconduct. That Bongino can be one of many GOP witnesses at this listening to is an announcement in itself, at the same time as Republicans have seemingly begun to take police reform significantly over the past two weeks of nationwide protests sparked by Floyd’s dying.

Home Judiciary rating member Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), nonetheless, echoed Bongino’s sentiments in his opening assertion. “The huge, overwhelming majority of legislation enforcement officers are accountable, hardworking, heroic first responders,” Jordan stated. “They’re the officers who shield the Capitol, who shield us each single day. They’re the officers who rushed into the dual towers on 9/11.”

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