A photo honoring a slain officer sparked controversy as college students and Black Lives Matter expressed their disgust over the image. The outrage was not directed at the person or persons responsible for the officer’s death, but at the image itself — which depicted the popular “thin blue line” flag.
The flag, which has become popular among pro-police Americans, is simply a re-working of the American flag — with the blue line in the middle representing the valor of law enforcement officers. It is also referred to as the “Blue Lives Matter” flag.
The photo features officer Natalie Corona, wearing a blue dress and standing draped in a Blue Lives Matter flag. She posted the image herself in 2016 in support of another fallen officer. Students at UC Davis demanded the removal of the image and wanted other individuals to stop sharing it, stating that it was racist.
“The flag is blatantly anti-Black and disrespectful,” the Associated Students, UC-Davis Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission wrote on its Facebook page, which has since been deleted. “We see it necessary to call-out all community members who continue to post and disseminate images of the Blue Lives Matter flag online. We would like to directly address that this flag represents an attempt by law enforcement to undermine the Black Lives Matter movement.”
The group did not have any empathy to share for the officer in the image, a 22-year-old rookie ambushed and killed last month. The officer was murdered in an ambush style shooting as she attended to the victims of a car accident, according to a local CBS affiliate.
Instead of focusing on the murder and loss of life, the groups instead chose to be outraged by a three-year-old picture posted to the officer’s own private Facebook page and shared as part of her memorial. Corona’s photo was taken and posted in 2016, alongside her appreciation for her fellow officers and those who serve others:
“I would like this photograph to serve as my gratitude for all of those law enforcement men and women who have served, who are currently serving, and those who have died in the line of duty protecting our liberties in this great country,” She posted in 2016.
According to the Blaze, the school group and others like it were outraged and “triggered” by the image, which simply features the slain officer and the flag. Black Lives Matter of Sacramento took to Facebook as well, asking readers to steal flags and submit them to the group.
The group specifically asked for Thin Blue Line flags that were acquired “not bought” ; in other words, stolen from public and private places and removed from homes that support police officers and mourn the most recent officer death.
Placing a bounty on the flags (which the group says will be used for an art installation at an unnamed location, at a future, undisclosed date) is likely to further inflame the controversy and even trigger conflict between those stealing the flags and the actual owners of the items.
Once again, Black Lives Matter is undermining its own cause by needlessly making enemies when it doesn’t have to…
~ Patriotic Freedom Fighter
