Los Angeles, CA – Bill Maher suggested on Friday that all police officers are criminals, and suggested that a # MeToo movement should be launched against police (video below).
“When did punching someone in the head become a law enforcement technique?” the political commentator asked during a Real Time with Bill Maher segment called “Cops and Clobbers.”
“They do a Riverdance on your skull,” Maher continued. “We need to stop saying, ‘Most cops are good,’ like we know that to be true.”
Maher said that he needed “evidence” to convince him that any police officers were good people.
“If most cops are good, why are there so many videos of them being bad?” he asked.
He then produced several short clips of recent altercations where officers used force to subdue combative suspects.
The first snippet showed officers as they arrested Emily Weinman, who kicked an officer, struck his partner in the chest, and spit on police while hurling obscenities on a New Jersey beach.
Maher left out the facts of Weinman’s behavior, and instead condescendingly claimed that officers assaulted her because she had “an open container of alcohol.”
He then showed a clip of Marion County sheriff’s deputies as they arrested Kevin Straw, who Maher alleged was just “making loud noises” before the deputies “mercilessly wailed” on him.
In actuality, Straw was armed with a fixed-blade knife and had been screaming into a police radio and command center, disrupting communications during a search and rescue mission, USA Today reported.
Deputies asked him to leave the area, but Straw returned twice. When the deputies attempted to take him into custody, he resisted and fought them.
Maher’s third clip showed Mesa police as they arrested Robert Johnson.
He claimed that the video showed “officers beating a black man,” because police believed he was “preparing for a physical altercation.”
“Which apparently means he was standing up,” Maher quipped. “It’s like getting a speeding ticket in a parked car because your flame decals look fast.”
He neglected to note that Johnson was accused of attempting to break into the residence of his friend’s ex-girlfriend.
Johnson refused to comply with the responding officers’ requests that he sit down, and actively fought with police while they took him into custody. He later appeared to spit on one of the officers.
Maher also referenced the January arrest of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown.
He claimed that officers tased the NBA player for “existing while black,” but failed to mention that Brown refused to back away from a Milwaukee police officer who was trying to speak with Brown about the vehicle he had parked across two handicap spaces outside a Walgreen’s store.
He then refused to remove his hands from his pockets.
“That’s a lot of videos of guys who barely exist doing s - - t that hardly ever happens,” Maher jabbed. “This is why NFL players wanna take a knee.”
“Seems to me, we need a # MeToo movement for police,” the political commentator continued. “Perhaps we should decide what should happen when two men pin a woman down in the sand and punch her in the face.”
Maher went on to allege that police work brings out “rage” in law enforcement officers and that more needs to be done to help officers to “find better ways” to channel their anger.
He claimed that the “Thin Blue Line” was to be blamed for creating an environment in which “coward” police officers stand by and allow incidents of brutality to occur.
“When cops ask minorities why they don’t snitch on their own, minorities have every right to say, ‘You first,’” Maher declared.
He then blasted law enforcement officials for taking the time to fully investigate the circumstances of use-of-force allegations.
“They’re always reviewing these videos, as if they’re ghost hunters looking for signs of a poltergeist,” Maher argued.
Instead, departments should be reviewing their hiring practices, he said.
“We need better psychological screening to weed out the people who become cops as payback for high school,” Maher sneered. “The police attract bullies like the priesthood attracts pedophiles.”
Maher noted that he does personally know some “good cops,” but quickly turned his acknowledgement into another slam.
“I used to buy drugs off one!” he said. “Great guy!”
Maher claimed that he understood why officers “are so often ready to explode,” and admitted that there are no viral videos that show police putting their lives on the line as they do every day.
“But if you expect nice, don’t be a cop,” Maher condescendingly preached. “Police work – it’s like proctology – a - - holes come with the job. It doesn’t give you the right to abuse people.”
You can see Maher’s anti-police musings in the video below:
