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<\/p>\nBy RYAN J. FOLEY
\nAP<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) \u2014 A prominent law enforcement training group is promoting a lengthy research document riddled with falsehoods and conspiracies that urges local police to treat Black Lives Matter activists as terrorists plotting a violent revolution.<\/p>\n
The document distributed by the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association contains misinformation and inflammatory rhetoric that could incite officers against protesters and people of color, critics said. It alleges Black Lives Matter and antifa, an umbrella term for leftist militants, are \u201crevolutionary movements whose aims are to overthrow the U.S. government\u201d and claims they are planning \u201cextreme violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillip Atiba Goff, a Yale University professor who is an expert on racial bias in policing, called the document dangerous, noting that the association is an important source of training materials for many small and midsize departments across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s stunning. It\u2019s distressing in many ways. It\u2019s untethered to reality,\u201d said Goff, CEO of the Center for Policing Equity. \u201cI worry that it leads to people dying unnecessarily.\u201d<\/p>\n
The association in October sent a link to the 176-page paper, \u201cUnderstanding Antifa and Urban Guerrilla Warfare,\u201d in an email news update to its thousands of members. The document, labeled \u201crestricted to law enforcement only,\u201d is one of the few publicly available materials on its website. The Associated Press learned of the document from one of the policing organization\u2019s members.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s executive director, Harvey Hedden, defended the document, which he called one member\u2019s opinion and open for critique and debate. He said the association supports the exchange of ideas and strategies to improve criminal justice training but does not endorse specific approaches.<\/p>\n
Hedden argued that fact-checking the paper or restricting its distribution would amount to censorship and that its publication would allow for peer review by other trainers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will always be differences of opinion on training issues but so long as the disagreements remain professional and not personal we do not censor these ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cI am willing to allow the trainer to evaluate the information themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cJust like law enforcement, I am afraid BLM has earned some of these criticisms and others might be overgeneralizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Black Lives Matter movement emerged in 2013 after the acquittal of the Florida man who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and\u00a0exploded in size<\/a>\u00a0and influence earlier this year after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody. Protests across the nation were largely peaceful but occasionally marked by clashes with police or the destruction of property. Since then, many activists have been working to reduce the scope and cost of local police departments and overhaul police training.<\/p>\n The law enforcement association, known by its nickname ILEETA, says in a mission statement that it\u2019s \u201ccommitted to the reduction of law enforcement risk\u201d and saving lives through high-quality training. The association promotes its annual conference, set for St. Louis this coming March, as the \u201clargest gathering of law enforcement trainers in the world.\u201d It publishes a research journal, provides other educational and training materials and operates a Facebook page for members to network and share ideas.<\/p>\n An official with Color of Change, a nationwide racial justice organization, called on police departments Wednesday to cut training ties with the association, saying it encourages a warrior-style mindset that creates more conflict in communities.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is disturbing to read but not at all surprising to me. This is the type of thinking that is sadly pretty prominent within police culture,\u201d said Scott Roberts, its senior director of criminal justice campaigns.<\/p>\n Goff said police executives with whom he\u2019s discussed the document this week were \u201cdisturbed by it.\u201d He and others said it was irresponsible for the group to promote the paper.<\/p>\n \u201cThis document is below the belt because of how much misinformation there is, how many conspiracy theories there are, how much violence it promotes and how many reasons it gives to justify dehumanizing people,\u201d said Sherice Nelson, assistant professor of political science at Southern University and A&M College who studies Black political movements.<\/p>\n She said the paper repeatedly promotes \u201cwildly outlandish\u201d claims about Black Lives Matter, shows cultural ignorance by falsely conflating the movement with antifa, and primes officers to use force by painting both as terrorists plotting to kill police.<\/p>\n Among its many unsupported claims is that the two movements have \u201ctrained, dedicated snipers\u201d stationed in certain cities, are fronts for Russia and China, and planned attacks before and after last month\u2019s presidential election.<\/p>\nFull Coverage:\u00a0<\/span>Race and ethnicity<\/a><\/div>\n