Tucson officer says NFL anthem protesters are ‘crying like a baby,’ gets national attention
A Tucson police officer is attracting national attention this week after posting a video sharply critical of protests by NFL players during the playing of the anthem.
Officer Brandon Tatum has spoken openly about his conservative political opinions since March 2016, when he posted a video about attending a Donald Trump rally in Tucson as a civilian, saying the event had opened his mind.
That video was viewed more than half a million times on various YouTube accounts and got him mentions in the Washington Post and on Breitbart. This week, he has another viral hit on his hands.
Tatum posted a YouTube video titled “Now I have had enough – Why The Flag Means So Much To Americans” on Sunday, the same day more than 200 NFL players kneeled or linked arms during the national anthem in defiance of President Donald Trump and to protest injustices.
Speaking of athletes who are protesting, he said “these clowns are doing stuff off of trendiness.”
“Quit taking a knee and protesting and crying like a baby because at the end of the day all you’re doing is pissing people off,” he said in the live video on his public Facebook page, which has since been shared more than 383,000 times.
Tatum appeared on “Fox & Friends First,” “Fox & Friends” and “The Alex Jones Show” on Friday to talk about his video and said he doesn’t think Trump “is being divisive” but protesters are.
“I wanna see players go out and play and have a good time and enjoy the game. I don’t want to see politics mixed in with athletics,” he said on “Fox & Friends.”
“You and so many others,” cohost Abby Huntsman replied.
From ‘picking cotton to being the president’
Tatum, who is 30 years old and black, has said on YouTube and Twitter that he is a Trump supporter, that “the Black Lives Matter organization is a hate group” and that “minorities are not victim of police brutality.”
His other most-viewed videos include “I will never vote Democrat AGAIN!!” and “Why Black Men choose White Women over Black Women.”
The only oppression I experience today, comes from other black people. I'm just keeping it real. 💯
— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) September 25, 2017
Tatum played football for the University of Arizona from 2005 through 2008, according to the UA website.
In his video criticizing NFL protests, he focused on what the flag means to him, although players and supporters have stated that protesting is about racial injustice and police brutality.
“You have these people who want to turn around and take a knee and want to attribute all the negativity to the flag and the anthem but don’t want to attribute the positive.
“If you feel that the American flag represents negativity and slavery and all this other stuff then you have to give credit and credence to a flag that gave you the opportunity to go from corn fields and picking cotton to being the president of the United State of America,” he said in the video.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began protests in August 2016 when he sat during the national anthem and later said “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”
Kaepernick wore socks that bear the image of cartoon pigs wearing police hats during training camp practices in August, a move that Tatum blasted in on “Fox & Friends First” on Friday.
“It’s absolutely disrespectful. There’s no reason to do that. There is no method to his madness. It’s just flat-out disrespect and what it’s doing is it’s causing police officers to be in danger.”
Tatum: Fellow officers support me
When asked for a comment Friday about Tatum’s videos, this is how the Tucson Police Department responded:
“Tucson Police Department personnel may exercise their First Amendment rights in their personal capacity as private citizens, such as when they are off-duty and out of uniform, so long as they do not represent themselves as Tucson Police Officers or give the impression they are speaking on behalf of the Tucson Police Department or the City of Tucson.”
Tatum used to be a spokesman for the department, according to Tucson news outlet KVOA.
After Tatum posted a video in July 2016 saying Alton Sterling “was clearly, justifiably shot” by Baton Rouge police, spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Bay told KVOA that he did not break any laws or department policies, using the same statement.
On “Fox & Friends” Friday morning, Tatum said fellow Tucson police officers support him.
“I think people support what I say and they’re excited,” he said. “I mean, we’re like a big family, so when I’m able to talk on TV I think it’s a victory for all of us. We get a chance to express kind of how we feel but It’s been 98 percent positive.
“I haven’t had a police officer say anything negatively to me about it, but it’s just the way it is. I think we’re all on the same page.”
