Five North Carolina Sheriff Deputies are the latest to feel the repercussions of supporting and/or participating in the chaos at Donald Trump rallies. These cops could have been heroes had they done their jobs that day, instead they chose to detain and innocent man while letting his attacker go free. I reported recently on the violence that has been following Donald Trump across the U.S. as he campaigns for the highest office in our government.
One story I shared with you in particular was that of Rakeem Jones, who was attacked while in the custody of North Carolina Sheriff Deputies. On March 9th, Jones and a group of friends of mixed religion, sex and sexuality attended a Trump rally together as a social experiment. At one point they were asked to leave by sheriff deputies. While being escorted out with officers in front and behind him, Jones was violently attacked by a man later identified as 78-year-old John McGraw. The video went viral.
McGraw suddenly appeared from the midst of the crowd, elbowing Jones hard in the face. As he stumbled forward Jones was then handcuffed by deputies. McGraw went on to celebrate in the crowd. He told an Inside Edition reporter “The next time with might have to kill him” Sheriff deputies did not detain nor arrest McGraw on the scene. He was later arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, assault and communicating death threats. He has since issued a public apology.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoA_mjVrvs4]
The Cumberland County Sheriff Department announced Wednesday that the five cops involved in the removal of Jones and his friends has been disciplined. Three of the deputies were demoted in rank and suspended for five days without pay. The other two officers have been placed on three day suspension without pay. Each of the five officers are on a year’s probation as well. To explain the difference in the officers punishments Sheriff Butler stated that the officers prior work and conduct had been taken into account when disciplined.
Sheriff Earl “Moose” Butler said the deputies were disciplined for “unsatisfactory performance and failing to discharge the duties and policies of the office of the sheriff.” Butler further added “The actions of the deputies and their failures to act in situations such as that which occurred during the Trump rally at the Crown Coliseum have never been and will never be tolerated under the policies of this office.”
When asked about the disciplinary action Rakeem Jones said “I applaud the sheriff’s department for their work and finding the deputies responsible.”
Donald Trump told Meet the Press that he was looking into paying the legal fees for McGraw. I wonder if he will be contacting these five deputies to offer to cover the money they are losing for failing to protect protestors at his rally.
The job of sworn officers is to PROTECT and SERVE. There is no picking and choosing WHO to protect or serve allowed. It was obvious that he had committed a criminal act and was a threat to the public, openly bragging that killing wasn’t out of the option. Yet these still unnamed deputies allowed him to continue on at the rally and go home for the night when he should have went to jail.
