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Colorado chief Vernon Knuckles slammed for hateful posts, blames it on Breonna Taylor for ‘shedding bad light’ on cops

'There was actual criminal ties and stuff. She was involved in a criminal organization,' Vernon Knuckles said of Taylor in a video
UPDATED FEB 6, 2021
Vernon Knuckles in the public meeting held online (Screengrab/Reddit)
Vernon Knuckles in the public meeting held online (Screengrab/Reddit)

CORTEZ, COLORADO: A video of a police chief has surfaced on Reddit and in the video, the government employee identified as Vernon Knuckles defended his hateful Facebook posts by blaming Breonna Taylor for the anti-police sentiment. “There was a big narrative out there about Breonna Taylor and the evidence and everything to come out of it, was just absolutely tragic, but it was really shedding bad light on law enforcement like they just ran in there and shot her for nothing. There was actual criminal ties and stuff. She was involved in a criminal organization,” Knuckles was heard saying in the video shared on Friday, February 5.

Taylor was shot dead in her sleep in March 2020, when police did an alleged botched raid at her home believing a man selling drugs received packages there. However, later it was revealed the 26-year-old emergency room technician was not in contact with that person at the time.

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Knuckles was appointed the police chief of Montezuma County in June last year, but over time, he has faced backlash for slamming the Black Lives Matter movement. One of his posts shared on his page stated, “BLM is a hateful organization that fuels anger and divides black Americans. Their actual agenda is to push a progressive far left ideology that includes abolishing the police.” A public meeting was held online, where he claimed that initially after facing backlash from the community because of his social media posts, he thought of deleting the account. He continued, “It is probably going to go away, but I don’t want people thinking that I am trying to hide something. I just want to put it out there that I am probably going to delete the account because I can’t read a book and look at Facebook at the same time."

People visit a makeshift memorial for Breonna Taylor on September 24, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky (Getty Images)

The meeting reportedly came after an “armed right wing group surrounded, harassed and stalked a group of peaceful protesters as Chief Knuckles' officers looked on from their vehicles." A woman present in the meeting confronted Knuckles and said, “No matter how many times you post, you post as the chief of police and as a single individual as well. I think we have all learned especially in light of recent events that people in positions of power do have power, and their words do matter, and people do follow their example.”

A protester carries a sign in honor of Breonna Taylor on September 23, 2020, in Chicago, Illinois (Getty Images)

Several people on Reddit also blasted the police chief as one user said, “Sucks to be so stupid you don’t recognize your public displays of confused thought have outed you as a bigot.” The second user wrote, “I don't understand how you can be a police officer, or a chief for that matter, when you are collecting a public salary while enforcing laws that are inherently anti-libertarian. But as we have come to find, conservatism and hypocrisy go hand in hand.” “Picture a black chief who posted a bunch of anti-white shit being given a chance to explain himself. Lol. This is crazy. Gee I wonder why police have a violence problem?” the third user added.

RELATED TOPICS CHICAGO NEWS COLORADO NEWS
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