Cops, like many other corps wearing uniforms and carrying guns are very often -not always but very often- aligned with the right. I've direct experiences having worked with them, also have a close relative who taught at the police school confirming it. Not in the US, but I would be extremely surprised if it didn't work the same over there. The mindset is what matters.
So it's not that a cop embraces right wing ideals but rather the other way around: it's a job looked for by many people who feel the need to wear an uniform and carry a gun (exercise power, dominate others, there are lots of psychological implications). I'd say that also the cops who expressed respect for George Floyd might be Trump Supporters, although they don't agree with their colleagues violent methods.
Yes. It's anecdotal at best, but all of the 6 cops I know have either "Trump 2020" or "Trump No More Bullshit" or (my personal favorite) "Trump Making Liberals Cry Since 2016" flags flying above the US flag at their homes.
My baseline assumption is a vast majority of police/sheriffs/troopers support Trump. Is this incorrect?
Sheriffs and State Troopers are very majority Republican, police are barely majority Democrat.
I suspect that if we had individual data per region, the affiliation would track with the local politics, maybe with +2 R across the board, or something like that.
Ignoring the antisocial aspects of the wording, the U.S. flag code indicates the national flag should always be the highest in a display.
“When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States flag’s right.”
The irony that you’re missing is that many conservatives hold the flag to a very high standard. Standing on it, not pledging allegiance, etc. are wrong in their eyes. Look no further that Collin Kaepernick when he took a knee at the NFL. Then you have those same people (the “rule of law” people) turn around and ignore the Flag Code (never mind it not being enforceable) is quite ironic.
Considering that the police force were initially created for slave patrols, it’s not really surprising that white supremacy is a part of police culture.
I would like to believe that people have more personal agency than that, and that in fact, calling someone or their actions white supremacist does not make them such and instead causes them to reflect on what caused the accusation.
If merely calling someone or their actions white supremacist makes them suddenly start self-identifying as a white supremacist and they don't see a problem with that, maybe the original accusation wasn't that wrong?
White supremacist infiltration of police organizations goes back a long time. Blaming the much more recent attention that people are paying to white supremacy for the movement itself is absurd. "You called me a white supremacist so now I am one" is nonsense.
The FBI warned of white supremacist infiltration of police forces over a decade ago.
