Blindly Defending Police Officers Is Not Conservative, It Is Authoritarian

For people claiming to cherish the idea of limited government as a foundational principle of their beliefs, many who call themselves conservatives don’t seem to apply that principle in situations involving malfeasance committed by police officers. Over the past few decades, the conservative movement has developed a rather odd habit when dealing with corrupt law enforcement officials.

At some point, too many on the right became something closer to right-wing authoritarians rather than actual conservatives. Whenever footage of a violent encounter with police becomes a national story, this authoritarian streak presents itself when right-leaning influencers employ a messaging strategy designed to protect the officer involved. I refer to this strategy as the “Triple D” method: Defend, Distract, and Dehumanize.

One can see this in action with the shooting of Daunte Wright. One did not need a crystal ball to predict how the authoritarian right would react to this story.

As with other cases, the first step was to defend Potter, who recently resigned and is facing a second-degree manslaughter charge. In this case, it wasn’t easy to defend the officer, but at least two right-leaning commentators argued that she should not be punished for her actions.

YouTuber Mark Dice published a video yesterday in which he discussed the Wright case and also that of Army medic Caron Nazario, who was pepper-sprayed by police during an encounter in Virginia. In the video, he insisted that 100% of the blame should be placed squarely on Wright, who was clearly resisting arrest.

Dice went so far as to state that Potter should not be held accountable for her actions. “Should she be charged with negligent homicide? Absolutely not. Should she be charged with anything? Absolutely not. He caused her to have the accident,” he said.

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