Mike Soubirous, the president of the Riverside County Peace Officer Memorial Foundation, says, “You just find it offensive when people have made comments such as labeling a man a hero for being a convicted cop killer. That tarnishes the reputation of the lives that are laid on the line by these officers.”
Local law enforcement is now getting involved in the 36th Congressional District race. Monday six area police officer associations criticized Dr. Raul Ruiz for remarks he made as part of a protest in college.
Dr. Ruiz is challenging incumbent Mary Bono Mack for the Coachella Valley seat.
The Bono Mack campaign first brought the controversial comments to light last week when it released an audio recording.
“If Leonard Peltier is guilty, then we are all guilty because we seek out history,” Ruiz said in the recording.
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents in 1975 serving life in prison.
William Hutchinson, the president of the Palm Springs Police Officer’s Association, says, “Anybody that comes out in support of cop killers and clams police brutality and goes back and forth about their statement, those are all concerns to law enforcement. ”
The police officer’s associations in Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, San Bernardino and Corona; all were offended by Ruiz’s remarks.
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