Mayor, chief rebuke FOP leader's explanation

Louisville FOP President Dave Mutchler on Friday defended a controversial open letter he wrote in the aftermath of last Saturday's police shooting of a black man, saying that his "blunt" message was not meant to intimidate anyone.

"There is no one in this community or in this country that should feel the least bit threatened by what I have written in this letter," he said at a press conference.

Instead, he said, the letter is only being interpreted as threatening by activists seeking to "sensationalize" his position and divide the city.

But the letter caused an avalanche of criticism. Mayor Greg Fischer and Police Chief Steve Conrad released a joint statement Friday night saying after listening to the press conference, they "remain very concerned that Mr. Mutchler, with the leadership position he holds, does not understand the impact of the tone of his remarks and original letter."

"The threatening tone is not representative of the vast majority of our officers or our citizens — and many have told us that they have a significantly different view than Mr. Mutchler. His words do absolutely nothing to help build community-police relations and undermine the noble and difficult work our police do every day, from keeping us safe and secure in our homes to protecting our First Amendment right to speak our minds."

Mutchler's letter also was condemned by the ACLU of Kentucky, the advisory board of the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission and religious and civil rights leaders.

The African-American Think Tank in Louisville called on Mutchler to resign, but he said at the press conference at the River City FOP 614 Lodge that he has no intention of doing so.

Activists also said they plan to hold a protest outside Louisville Metro Police headquarters at noon Monday.

In the letter, which Mutchler issued late Thursday, he called on police supporters to take a stand against those who assault and "demonize" officers, adding that officers would no longer be a "punching bag" for criminals.

Mutchler went on to threaten "sensationalists, liars and race-baiters" with local, state or federal prosecution if their claims bring harm to officers or the public.

At the press conference, he said police would no longer sit back and let people "vilify" them. Instead, he said, the police would challenge untruths about them.

"All I've said in this letter is thank you, and we're going to continue doing our jobs and if you're a criminal we're going to do everything to apprehend you and if you're an inflamer that we are going to exercise our right to free speech as well, and call you out."

Mutchler said the letter was only in part related to last Saturday's shooting of Sudanese immigrant Deng Manyoun, who was shot by Officer Nathan Blanford after swinging a metal flagpole at the officer, video surveillance footage shows.

Rather, Mutchler said his letter was a culmination of feelings that had grown over the past several years. He said it reflects a viewpoint held by many rank-and-file police officers.

The Rev. Al Herring, a Louisville native and deputy director with the PICO Network, a national group of clergy members who have organized in Ferguson, Mo., and other cities where controversial police shootings have occurred, said Mutchler's letter was disturbing.

"This particular letter, I believe, goes further than any statement I've seen recently from any FOP," he said.

Herring said he plans to contact national civil rights leaders and his contacts within the Justice Department about the letter.

Louisville civil rights attorney Larry D. Simon said the letter's contents target critics of police abuse and could be interpreted as a threat to free speech.

"If the president of the FOP says 'We are going to have you prosecuted for questioning us and how we enforce the law,' then that is quite a chilling effect on all of our First Amendment rights," he said.

But at his press conference, Mutchler said that the only people who would see the letter as threatening are those who want to see it that way. He said it is one thing to protest by holding a sign, but it is another thing to say something that could get an officer or resident hurt.

"I'm a combat veteran," said Mutchler, a former Marine who served in Iraq. "I fought to keep America a safe place so we would have these freedoms and have freedom of speech to do and say as we please as long as we abide by the law. And I am not trying to silence anyone."

Activists had been split

Before Mutchler's letter, civil rights organizations and social justice leaders had struggled on whether to call for protests of the Manyoun shooting. Even stringent critics of police shootings admitted there had been a "slight disagreement" about how to proceed.

"It's almost equivalent to the rest of the community, where people are saying, 'At the time the officer felt like he was threatened or in fear of his life the entire time, so maybe his gun was the best choice,' " said Chanelle Helm, co-leader of Stand Up Louisville. However, she said the officer was too quick to draw his gun.

Others said the fact that Manyoun was suspected of assaulting a woman minutes before the shooting — as well as his actions toward the officer — had made it hard to mobilize organizers.

"If we could have saved the brother from being killed, sure, but if somebody out in the streets swings a poll at me, I'm going to try to stop him," said Neal Robertson, president of the West Louisville Urban Coalition. "I'm not trying to kill him if I have a gun, but I don't want you to hit me with no pole and damage nothing on my body."

He added there is also a large number of residents who are more concerned with a surge in homicides. The city has had 35 criminal homicides this year and three in the past week.

Junis L. Baldon, a constitutional attorney at Frost Brown Todd in Louisville, said the split comes down to whether police should use non-lethal force as a first option, especially in confrontations with people who are mentally ill, intoxicated, unarmed or armed with a weapon that isn't a gun or a knife.

He said officers have a right to defend themselves and neutralize perceived threats to protect the public but all community members need to question those protocols whenever a person dies.

"All people are entitled to due process, a trial and to go before a jury that will decide their fate," he said. "Even in situations like this that are dangerous, we have to have confidence in our police that their first response isn't the extreme response of shooting someone."

Letter called unnecessary

Despite efforts by the mayor and police chief to quell concerns, community leaders bristling over the FOP letter expect further repudiations from officers.

"If the rank and file of the Louisville Metro Police Department does not repudiate this letter and the sentiments in this letter penned by the President of the FOP and if our police chief does not put this person on administrative leave who indicates that he is not going to follow the policies and procedures of policing people in our community, we have a big problem," said the Rev. Gerome Sutton of the African-American Think Tank.

VIEW | ACLU response to FOP letter

Demonstrators who have lobbied for police body cameras and demilitarized law enforcement throughout Louisville in the past several months also believe Mutchler's message was unnecessary given how little opposition had mounted after the Manyoun shooting.

"There was a memorial for Mr. Manyoun, but there was no protest or body of people yelling or showing up at police headquarters or the courts or marching through the streets," said D'Neika Anderson, an Army veteran who has marched for police reform. "There were some among the activist community who weren't on one accord, but to use that situation it seems to me he just wanted to be angry."

Mutchler said if those criticizing police actions want honest dialogue they need to be willing to hear the officer's views.

"We have to be honest with them as well, that's how you start the process of actually building a tighter community," he said. "And this letter is how a majority of my members honestly feel, and it's important that everyone out there knows that."

Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4475, follow him at @phillipmbailey on Twitter. Reporter Roberto Roldan contributed to this story.