Crime rising as police fear enforcing law on blacks.
A Kentucky sheriff’s alarmingly candid comment to reporters after the shooting of a suspect by a deputy underscored the tensions in law-enforcement departments nationwide caused by a rash of racially charged incidents.
“We are glad that he is white,” Sheriff Ed Mattingly of Nelson County said.
He was referring to the May 10 shooting of 25-year-old John Kennedy Fenwick, who was shot and wounded after trying to disarm an officer following a car chase in Bardstown, Kentucky.
Asked about a potential “backlash” from the community, Mattingly noted that because Fenwick is white, “we shouldn’t have to be worried about that.”
“We do not want any backlash or violence in this community because people have been misinformed,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Baltimore, violent crime is surging as some police officers say they feel hesitant on the job under intense public scrutiny since six officers were charged in the death of Freddie Gray.
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