Katie Pavlich: Obama’s anti-police ideology

As President Obama starts to wind down his tenure in the White House, with just a year and a half to go, he’s focusing on federalization of local police forces in the name of “justice.” Attorney General Loretta Lynch will be his go-to on this project, just as Eric Holder was before her. 

The goal, according to the White House and Department of Justice, is to take a close look at police practices across the country to ensure minorities, in particular African-Americans, aren’t unfairly singled out for police scrutiny. 

{mosads}But Obama’s long record shows he isn’t necessarily interested in police brutality; instead, he holds an anti-police ideology. 

It all started way back in 2009 when Obama, before he knew all of the facts, accused the police of “acting stupidly” after his friend, Harvard Professor Henry Gates, was briefly arrested for breaking into his home. 

“I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played,” the president said at the time. “But I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry; No. 2, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home; and, No. 3 … that there’s a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”

This was a look at Obama’s perspective on the police — take a glance at the White House visitor log, the president’s consultants and the people he nominates, and you’ll get a clear picture of how anti-police he really is. 

So-called civil rights activist and race-baiter the Rev. Al Sharpton has been to the White House nearly 100 times since 2009 and regularly provides consultation on race issues to the president. Obama and Holder went out of their way to participate in events for Sharpton’s National Action Network and proudly displayed his logo behind them during speeches. 

“You know, actions speak louder than words. You put Al Sharpton next to you, you just told everyone, ‘I’m against the police,’ ” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said recently. He’s right. 

The president’s stoking of racial flames in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, actions also taken by Sharpton, further proves this point. 

When Obama announced he was going to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba in December, he did so without requiring the Cuban regime to release convicted cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, now known infamously as Assata Shakur. Chesimard, who is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list with a $1 million reward, escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba. She was convicted in 1977 of murdering New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop. She used Foerster’s weapon to shoot him twice in the head. 

When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made an official request earlier this year to have Chesimard returned to the U.S. to finish her sentence, the Cuban regime responded by saying it has the right to protect “persecuted criminals.” The White House has done nothing to get her extradited as part of new relations. 

But the most prominent example of Obama’s anti-police ideology came last year when he nominated Debo Adegbile to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. 

Adegbile voluntarily took on the case and cause of America’s most notorious cop-killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, 30 years after he was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal shot Faulkner, who was just 26 years old, multiple times, including in the face. Keep in mind that it’s the DOJ Civil Rights Division that investigates and brings lawsuits against police departments and officers around the country. 

In February 2014, six major law enforcement organizations representing more than 1 million law enforcement officers across the country, including the Fraternal Order of Police, sent scathing letters to senators and Obama opposing Adegbile’s nomination. Adding insult to injury, it was later revealed these organizations weren’t consulted before Obama put Adegbile up for the position. Maureen Faulkner, Officer Faulker’s widow, was also left in the dark. 

Adegbile’s nomination was such an affront to justice, the rule of law and the law enforcement community he was voted down by the Democrat-controlled Senate, 52-47. Regardless, the White House called his failed confirmation a “travesty.”

“The Senate’s failure to confirm Debo Adegbile to head the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice is a travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant,” the president said last year when the vote failed. 

When Obama’s time in office finally ends on Jan. 20, 2017, don’t be surprised if he issues a pardon to Abu-Jamal on his way out, solidifying an underreported anti-police legacy. 

Pavlich is editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.