{"id":167964,"date":"2016-07-10T19:58:38","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T01:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=167964"},"modified":"2016-07-11T13:29:44","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T19:29:44","slug":"el-paso-leaders-condemn-police-chiefs-remarks-on-black-lives-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/07\/el-paso-leaders-condemn-police-chiefs-remarks-on-black-lives-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso leaders condemn police chief’s remarks on Black Lives Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

EL PASO, Texas — After El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen called Black Lives Matter a “radical hate group<\/a>,” 13 area leaders called on the mayor and city council to repudiate his comments.<\/p>\n

Allen made the claim after a press conference of El Paso law enforcement officials on Friday. Allen didn’t speak at the conference, but afterward a reporter asked him what he would say to Black Lives Matter supporters who have planned a vigil for victims of police shootings on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"Black

Kaitlyn Veto \/ The Texas Tribune<\/p>

After El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen called Black Lives Matter a “radical hate group,” 13 area leaders are calling on the mayor and city council to repudiate his comments.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBlack Lives Matter, as far as I\u2019m concerned, is a radical hate group,” Allen said. “For that purpose alone I think the leadership of this country needs to look a little bit harder at that particular group. The consequences of what we saw in Dallas is due to their efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late Saturday, several state officials and local groups issued a letter\u00a0calling for El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser and the city council representatives to “publicly repudiate the statement, forcefully and unequivocally.”<\/p>\n

“This statement, in the chief\u2019s official capacity and in uniform, sends exactly the wrong message at a time when good people are working to address a crisis of violence and distrust that disproportionately affects minority communities,” the letter read in part.<\/p>\n

Signees\u00a0included local Democratic lawmakers U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke<\/a>;\u00a0state Sen. Jos\u00e9 Rodr\u00edguez<\/a>;\u00a0state Reps. C\u00e9sar Blanco<\/a>, Joe Moody<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Mary Gonz\u00e1lez<\/a>;\u00a0County Judge Veronica Escobar;\u00a0representatives for the NAACP and ACLU; and Evelina Ortega, who is expected to win the Texas House District 77 seat in November.<\/p>\n

The Tribune could not reach Allen or\u00a0Leeser for comment.<\/p>\n