On Monday night, a small town north of Minneapolis, Minnesota has joined two other municipalities supporting the idea of categorizing attacks on police as hate crimes.
The Cambridge City Council decided to ignore Mayor Marlys Palmer and Cambridge City Attorney Jay Squires, who pleaded for them to wait until more opinions were elicited. The council passed the resolution that prods Barack Obama to add police to the protected classes with regard to the federal hate crime law, and also pushes the Obama administration to fully fund the bullet-proof vest grant program, according to KARE11.
The legislation from which the resolution is derived was created by the National Fraternal Order of Police. Cambridge, population 8,300, followed the small town of Red Wing, Minnesota, population roughly 17,000, which passed a similar resolution September 28. That resolution stated: “The men and women of our nation’s law enforcement agencies wear their uniforms with honor, dedication, and integrity as they protect and serve their communities. These uniforms have made them targets by those who seek to kill or injure law enforcement officers simply because of their profession and commitment to duty.” Red Wing Police Chief Roger Pohlman referenced a Black Lives Matter protest at the Minnesota State Fair, where people shouted, “Pigs in a blanket, fry’em like bacon.”
Red Wing’s resolution was passed after Warren County, Ohio started the ball rolling on September 15 with a resolution calling for attacks on police to be considered hate crimes.
The Cambridge resolution was brought by council member Tiffany Kafer, who stated, “I believe this resolution shows them we support that, we stand behind them when they pin on that badge and we also understand they may not make it home to their families.”
Isanti County Sheriff Chris Caulk lauded the resolution, telling KARE, “We answer the 9-1-1 calls regardless of the race of the person making the call. Our job is to come out and investigate the crime, it is to protect you from being a victim of a crime, or to frankly stand in front of that bullet that may be coming down range at us.”