Submitted by Joseph Jankowski via PlanetFreeWill.com,
The largest police union inside the United States is demanding that Amazon.com pull Black Lives Matter shirts from its inventory because the apparel is “offensive.”
Fraternal Order of Police president, Chuck Canterbury, wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in an open letter to ask the online retailer to “prohibit the use of the Amazon name and website for the retail” of shirts and sweatshirts with slogans “Bulletproof”, “Black Lives Matter” and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” which Canterbury described as “offensive” and the spread of “urban myths.”
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While demanding the apparel be shunned from the popular online retailer, the FOP president applauded the company for “demonstrating the reality of the American dream” and its philanthropic work and expressed his hope that it shares “FOP’s goal of increasing the bonds of trust between the men and women of law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
“I wanted to let you know that my members are very upset that you and Amazon are complicit in the sale of this offensive merchandise,” Canterbury added, cautioning that the sale of the apparel could “damage your company’s good name amongst FOP members and other active and retired law enforcement officers.”
Canterbury, who has served as the FOP president since 2003, went on to express sadness over the fact that some “third party sellers are making money by exploiting racial divisions” in the US.
Neither Amazon or Black Lives Matter have responded to the FOP’s open letter and the “offensive” apparel still remains available for purchase on the Bezos run platform.
Just last week, the FOP sent a letter to Walmart asking the retail giant to pull similar Black Lives Matter apparel. On the same day the letter was received, Walmart said it would remove the shirts which say “Bulletproof,” but not the “Black Lives Matter” shirts.
Since its inception, Black Lives Matter has openly expressed disdain for law enforcement and has even been connected in the murder of police officers across the United States.
Black Lives Matter was founded by militant feminists Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opel Tometi, who cite Marxist revolutionary and convicted cop killer, Assata Shakur, as one of the groups most influential figures.
The movement’s supporters famously celebrated the sniper attack in Dallas earlier in the year which killed 5 police officers.
A BLM leader was caught on tape back in July calling for supporters to shoot police and run them over.
Black Lives Matter protest leader calls for running over, shooting police.pic.twitter.com/EPoK7gWsRs
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 11, 2016
Members of the Black Lives Matter movement have been connected in the murder of 11 police officers since its inception in 2014.