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Denzel Washington Defends The Police: I Don’t Care About People Who Put The Police Down

Denzel Washington Defends The Police: I Don’t Care About People Who Put The Police Down

Denzel
Denzel Washington Defends The Police: I Don’t Care About People Who Put The Police Down. In this Dec. 17, 2016 photo, Denzel Washington poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Rich Fury/Invision/AP)

Famed actor Denzel Washington often plays police officers in films and he wants people to give more props to cops — he’s not happy with those who diss law enforcement.

Following Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 against police brutality, many people nationwide have called for the defunding of police.

“I have the utmost respect for what they do, for what our soldiers do, (people) that sacrifice their lives,” Washington told Yahoo Entertainment during a recent interview. “I just don’t care for people who put those kind of people down. If it weren’t for them, we would not have the freedom to complain about what they do.”

Washington is promoting his latest project, the thriller “The Little Things,” in which he plays a law-enforcer for the 13th time. In “The Little Things,” the 66-year-old Oscar winner portrays a disgraced Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective who seeks redemption by tracking down an elusive serial killer.

Back in 2017 during an interview Washington was asked about high incarceration rate in Black America, and he replied that the problem was in the “home,” not in the system, The New York Daily News reported.

“It starts at the home,” Washington said. “It starts at home.”

He added, “It starts with how you raise your children. If a young man doesn’t have a father figure, he’ll go find a father figure. So you know I can’t blame the system. It’s unfortunate that we make such easy work for them.”

Some Twitter users weren’t too impressed by Washington’s comments.

“After those comments a few years back on Black ppl using color as an excuse, Washington has revealed himself to be detached from reality. Sooo disappointing yet not uncommon or surprising,” wrote one user.

Another tweeter noted that Washington was out of touch with reality. “That’s what happens when you make it big and leave the hood. You forget what it’s like to be black and policed,” the tweet read.

“Really Denzel. You could have just kept quiet!!” one person tweeted.

https://twitter.com/pinkBentley/status/1355315970974380037?s=20

In addition to cops, Washington has also portrayed anti-establishment revolutionaries such as Steve Biko and Malcolm X. He said his respect for the police dates back to a ride-along he did while researching a film role as a cop-turned-district-attorney in the 1991 thriller “Ricochet,” Yahoo Entertainment reported.

“I went out on call with a sergeant,” Washington said. “We got a call of a man outside his house with a rifle that was distraught. We pulled up and did a U-turn past the house and came up short of the house. He told me to sit in the car, which I was gonna do. I wasn’t getting out. He got out. As he got out, another car came screaming up and two young people jumped out screaming. As it turned out, it was their grandfather. This policeman defused the entire situation by just remaining calm.”

He added, “But it showed me in an instant how they can lose their life … He didn’t overreact. He could’ve pulled his gun out and shot the people that came up driving real fast. He could’ve shot the old man that was distraught and a bit confused, I think he was suffering a little bit from dementia. But in an instant it taught me, and I never forgot it, what our law enforcement people have to deal with moment to moment, second to second.”

In May 2020, Washington was praised for a real-life interaction he had with the police. In a video that was posted online by TMZ, Washington could be seen coming to the aid of a homeless man who had been confronted by police.

Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 73: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin makes the case for why this is a multi-factor rebellion vs. just protests about George Floyd. He discusses the Democratic Party’s sneaky relationship with the police in cities and states under Dem control, and why Joe Biden is a cop and the Steve Jobs of mass incarceration.

The video, which went viral, shows him standing between two police officers and an unidentified man. According to TMZ, Washington was driving by when he saw that the man was in danger from oncoming traffic. Washington “got out of his car, talked to the man and brought him to safety on the sidewalk.” When the police arrived, Washington mediated between the man and the police, The Independent reported.