National Police Association Unveils What Millions Of Americans Are Thinking From Jan. 6 Committee Hearing

By Steeve Strange • July 29, 2021 2:00 pm

The National Police Association (NPA) has condemned the Democrat-led Congressional inquiry into the Capitol riot on January 6 saying it is a politically driven “dog and pony show” that has no intention of revealing the truth about what transpired that day.

Betsy Brantner Smith, the association’s spokeswoman — who is also a retired police sergeant — said Congress should also hear from the thousands of police officers who were injured and hurt during the series of often-destructive George Floyd riots last year.

“People need to see that police officers go through horrible things, and January 6 was a horrible thing for some of those officers,” Brantner Smith said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.

“But, quite frankly, I find this whole January 6 Commission, frankly, a dog and pony show. It doesn’t tell the whole story,” the spokeswoman, who identifies as a conservative, added.

National Police Association hits Congress for probing Jan. 6 attack while ignoring 2020 violence @washtimes https://t.co/tjThdvgjSY

— National Police Association (@NatPoliceAssoc) July 28, 2021

Brantner Smith: “There’s so much more” to the story

“Myself, like millions of Americans, sat there watching the testimony thinking, ‘Wait, where are the police officers who appeared — appeared — to let some of the protesters in?” she quipped. “Where is the police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt? In fact, why aren’t we talking about Ashli Babbitt? I mean there’s so much more here.”

Brantner Smith made her remarks the day after four police officers who responded to the Capitol chaos on January 6 testified before a Democrat-led House select committee about their experiences that day.

But the National Police Association spokesperson noted that those police officers have been “politicized by Congress,” and that as much as the public should learn about their stories — so are the stories of the “more than 2,000” men and women in law enforcement who were injured during last year’s violent protests last year.

She then cited a recent survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports which revealed that an overwhelming majority or 66% of likely US voters saying that Congress should investigate the riots during the summer last year, triggered by the death of George Floyd.

“I want the American public to hear about that,” Brantner Smith said. “And based on our survey, the American public wants to hear about that. They want to hear the testimony.”

“You know, we have a Las Vegas police officer who is still paralyzed from the Black Lives Matter riots. We have thousands of police officers around the country who are retiring because of post-traumatic stress because of the riots,” she added.

“The 2020 riots, we can’t just say the whole George Floyd thing was bad and that’s what cops have to deal with and then watch these four weeping men talk about their experiences, ignoring thousands and thousands of police officers, ignoring their feelings and their experiences and their injuries,”Brantner Smith continued.

The NPA spokeswoman also slammed the “defund the police” push — mostly by progressives — saying the movement “dehumanized” law enforcement officers. She then drummed up her criticism, noting that policies supposedly to protect African-Americans are just doing the exact opposite.

Taking toll on police officers

“It’s heartbreaking,” Brantner Smith said. “I have some cops who would rather go back to Iraq than continue to work on the street, just because of the massive amounts of blood and bodies and everything they deal with that people don’t see.”

“It’s taking its toll,” she said. “We already had a police officer mental health crisis in this country before George Floyd, and now the uptick in police officer suicides is reaching a crisis level.”

The former police sergeant added that the ‘veracity of the defund the police movement is directly related to crime in that area.”

“We’re not saving Black lives by defunding the police, by reimagining police, by vilifying the police. And that’s what I think is so disingenuous, and I think it’s confusing for people,” Brantner Smith went on.

“Because I think a lot of Americans say, of course, black lives matter. I mean, who doesn’t believe that black lives matter? But yet these policies in the name of Black Lives Matter are actually killing more Black people k, damaging the lives of Black people than the police ever have,” she added.

“We’re reaching a tipping point and I think yesterday kind of woke some people up — I hope. I hope,” she said, referring to the congressional hearing.

Several posts on Twitter also alluded to looking into the violent riots which hurt thousands of law enforcers across the country.

“Republicans should hold a press conference and have as speakers the police officers from across the country who had to deal with violent rioters that burned down city blocks, attacked federal buildings, and beat people in the streets all last year,” Dana Loesch, American radio and TV host — who is also former spokesperson for the National Rifle Association.

Republicans should hold a press conference and have as speakers the police officers from across the country who had to deal with violent rioters that burned down city blocks, attacked federal buildings, and beat people in the streets all last year.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 27, 2021