By Juan Peralez / Herald Forum
Unidos Snohomish County, an Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, is hosting the third of a series of book presentations, co-sponsored by the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability.
In “Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within,” author Michael German tackles questions regarding white supremacy and law enforcement’s response. Please join us from noon to 3 p.m., July 19 at the Latino Educational Training Institute, 9930 Evergreen Way, Building Y, Everett. Please RSVP by emailing Juan@Unidos-snoco.org
Unidos’ first book presentation was on Oct. 26, 2023 by the country’s renowned expert on white Christian nationalism, David Neiwert in his book, “The Age of Insurrection: The Radical Right’s Assault on American Democracy.” The second book presentation was on Jan. 10. Award-winning journalist, author and attorney Jessica Pishko presented her latest book, “The Highest Law In The Land: The Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy.”
German, a former undercover FBI agent for 16 years, is currently a fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security project. As an undercover agent German worked undercover in white supremacist and militia groups, developing a deep understanding of their mindsets and strategies. In his book, German issues a wake-call about law enforcement’s dangerously lax approach to far-right violence.
According to German the FBI has refused to prioritize violence by white supremacists and continues to use its domestic terrorism powers to target much less violent groups such as Black Lives Matter, environmental activists and other peaceful protesters. Far-right militants, meanwhile, have committed more than 100 deadly acts just since the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., that included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Klansmen and far-right militias, attempting to obstruct transfer of power to a duly elected U.S. president.
German shares that the FBI does not even compile accurate national data on white supremacist violence and tolerates overt racism in law enforcement and police membership in white supremacist organizations. The threat by these officers became clear when at least 19 current and former law enforcement officials participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol.
German notes that the FBI had plenty of advanced intelligence of the Unite the Right rally and the storming of the Capitol but did not act on those threats.
We must recognize and address this serious threat to our democracy. How pervasive are racist views among police at the federal, state and local levels? To what extent is there empirical evidence that racism among police leads to greater harassment, arrests, or violence against racial and ethnic minorities? White supremacy is a term that may be overused today as a synonym for racism. We can not be desensitized to the existence and true nature of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. We must ask to what extent have these elements have been able to find employment within law enforcement?
Juan Peralez is president of Unidos, Snohomish County, Unidos-snoco-org.
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