REUTERS SPECIAL REPORT U.S. police trainers with far-right ties are teaching hundreds of cops

[essentialsaltes]

This story contains offensive language. [i.e. no link]

On social media, Richard Whitehead is a warrior for the American right. He has praised extremist groups. He has called for public executions of government officials he sees as disloyal to former President Donald Trump. In a post in 2020, he urged law enforcement officers to disobey COVID-19 public-health orders from “tyrannical governors,” adding: “We are on the brink of civil war.”

Whitehead also has a day job. He trains police officers around the United States.

Whitehead is part of a trend in pushing a radical-right political agenda to American police forces. He’s one of five police trainers identified by Reuters whose political commentary on social media has echoed extremist opinions or who have public ties to far-right figures. They work for one or more of 35 training firms that advertised at least 10 police or public-safety training sessions in 2021, according to a Reuters analysis of scheduling data from policetraining.net, the main site where local departments connect with trainers. The news organization also reviewed materials describing classes by specific training companies.

 

[Saucy]

Why is this even a story? The leftists hate when they're not in full control of everything.

 

[Goonie]

Why is this even a story? The leftists hate when they're not in full control of everything.

So you support murderous Scum training police officers? Noted. Says everything about you.
Edit. No evidence of him being racist in the OP.

 

[Saucy]

So you support murderous racist Scum training police officers? Noted. Says everything about you.

So asking why this is even a story means I support murderous, racist scum eh? Where in this story were these people guilty of being murderous racist scum? Is this just your hateful overall view of anyone not on the left? Says more about the amount of hatred you have in your heart for everyone who doesn't agree with you. And yes, at least the right supports the police, unlike the left who wants to abolish the police and let murderers, thieves, rapists, drug dealers, and every abominable person roam free.

 

[Goonie]

So asking why this is even a story means I support murderous, racist scum eh? Where in this story were these people guilty of being murderous racist scum? Is this just your hateful overall view of anyone not on the left? Says more about the amount of hatred you have in your heart for everyone who doesn't agree with you. And yes, at least the right supports the police, unlike the left who wants to abolish the police and let murderers, thieves, rapists, drug dealers, and every abominable person roam free.

Trainers calling for the murder of any employee disloyal to Donald Trump? Sorry but the sheer hatred is on your part(rereading I was wrong to include the word racist).

 

[essentialsaltes]

(rereading I was wrong to include the word racist).

You can add it back if you want.

A Washington state training commission in 2015 temporarily banned Whitehead from advertising courses on its website because of instructional materials that referred to a turban-wearing police officer as a “towel head” and contained cartoons of women in bikinis

 

[hislegacy]

So you support murderous racist Scum training police officers? Noted. Says everything about you.

Oh please. Present your accusation this man is Murderous racist scum because he doesn’t cow toe to whole theories!

such drama over one man in a system of millions. But you really can’t expect less can we?

 

[Goonie]

Oh please. Present your accusation this man is Murderous racist scum because he doesn’t cow toe to whole theories!

such drama over one man in a system of millions. But you really can’t expect less can we?

This man, is training police officers. And I've already retracted my racist accusation. Merely murderous scum.

 

[hislegacy]

Reading the article readily available on Reuters this whole thing is based off of the complaints of one student because the man did not follow rules on addressing transgender.

It goes with the current methodology. Capitulate to rules they establish or be publicaly evicerated, called all sorts of accusations and degraded into silence.

The level of intolerance and sheer hatred of any other thought is very public and prevalent.

We also now have a ministry of propaganda to ensure the rules are met.

 

[hislegacy]

This man, is training police officers. And I've already retracted my racist accusation. Merely murderous scum.

Who has he murdered?

Such hi drama.

 

[Goonie]

Who has he murdered?

Such hi drama.

So a police trainer is on record supporting murder, and you find no issue with that?

 

[hislegacy]

So a police trainer is on record supporting murder, and you find no issue with that?

Says who? Where is the victim? Quote him. Prove your accusation.

If I follow your reasoning than Pelosi is a mass murder and I have just as much hearsay proof against her as you do against him.

Dont you think I’m todays Information Age, before labeling someone murderous scum, we should have more than one persons opinion piece? Before slapping a label on an individual, we should at lease do a little research.

 

[hislegacy]

From the link:

In interviews, Whitehead and the other four trainers also said their beliefs are neither extreme nor far-right. Some said posts that appeared to urge the overthrow of the U.S. government were intended as humorous or figurative. They said they keep their politics separate from their training, which they said focused on officer safety.
​

Wonder why his side is not quoted here?

Whitehead disputed the assertion that police trainers need more oversight, noting that many states review course material. “That seems regulated to me,” he said.
​

if you are going to target people who say:

President Joe Biden is a “puppet and a pedophile.” Protestors decrying racial bias in policing are “pawns” in a “scheme to destroy this nation.”

Social media posts from police instructor Adam Davis
​

How do you judge the politicians who called Trump a rapist and Russian agent?

Neither accusation is proven, but only one is acceptable? Why is that?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Reading the article readily available on Reuters this whole thing is based off of the complaints of one student because the man did not follow rules on addressing transgender.

That is entirely false.

 

[muichimotsu]

Why is this even a story? The leftists hate when they're not in full control of everything.

Pot meet kettle: you really think the right isn't moralizing and trying to have their cake and eat it too with the idea of freedom as long as it's within their preferred status quo?

 

[Fantine]

We are fortunate that our police chief puts a high priority on community relations.

As far as Whitehead goes, he is an employee, and if his job performance doesn't meet standards he should be let go, along with others whose views are out of the mainstream.

A friend had a son with PTSD who wanted to be a nurse as he was leaving the Army but then decided to be a policeman "because he loved guns too much." (Her words, not mine.) Once he was a policeman, he wanted to join a SWAT team.

Sadly, she died a few years ago, so I don't know the end of the story, but if "liking guns too much" is your reason for being a policeman you have no business being a policeman. I sympathize with his PTSD, but he should get counseling to learn to handle his emotions more appropriately before joining law enforcement.

 

[muichimotsu]

We are fortunate that our police chief puts a high priority on community relations.

As far as Whitehead goes, he is an employee, and if his job performance doesn't meet standards he should be let go, along with others whose views are out of the mainstream.

A friend had a son with PTSD who wanted to be a nurse as he was leaving the Army but then decided to be a policeman "because he loved guns too much." (Her words, not mine.) Once he was a policeman, he wanted to join a SWAT team.

Sadly, she died a few years ago, so I don't know the end of the story, but if "liking guns too much" is your reason for being a policeman you have no business being a policeman. I sympathize with his PTSD, but he should get counseling to learn to handle his emotions more appropriately before joining law enforcement.

That assumes we even want to address toxic masculinity as the core reason so many men very likely refuse to accept any need for mental healthcare and just latch onto anything to make them persist in their tough guy delusions

 

[Sparagmos]

Why is this even a story? The leftists hate when they're not in full control of everything.

You don’t have a problem with people calling for public executions? You don’t think it would be murder?

 

[muichimotsu]

You don’t have a problem with people calling for public executions? You don’t think it would be murder?

I mean, when the state does something a conservative approves of, then it's fine and not government overreach. You know...consistency! Like if someone that just happens to be KKK friendly supports something, then it doesn't matter that they're a racist monster, because they're still a "patriot"

 

[ThatRobGuy]

While it's certainly problematic that this guy is training police officers, is there any indication of how pervasive this mindset is with regards to people training police?

My concern is that stories like this may conflate "random outlier mindset" with "commonplace" with regards public perception of public institutions.

You'll always be able to find racist cops, much like you could find instances of public school teachers promoting socialistic ideas, one must be careful to not "throw the baby out with the bathwater" as the saying goes.

The left likes to highlight "racist cops" in the same way the right likes to highlight the most extreme examples of teachers promoting critical race theory.

I would just urge caution with regards to some of these stories.

Public institutions that both the left and right favor/oppose both provide value, it's important to take that into consideration when looking at stories like this.