Report: Kentucky Police Presentation Quoted Hitler To Encourage ‘Regular Employment Of Violence’

Topline

A presentation given to Kentucky State Police cadets contained quotes from Adolf Hitler encouraging the cadets to use violence, according to a Louisville high school newspaper, the Manual RedEye, while calling for the future police officers to have a “mindset void of emotion” in order to “meet violence with greater violence.”

Key Facts

Chief Critic

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) responded to the report by saying: “This is absolutely unacceptable. It is further unacceptable that I just learned about this through social media. We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action.”

Crucial Quote

“The quotes are used for their content and relevance to the topic addressed in the presentation,” Kentucky State Police spokesman Lt. Joshua Lawson told the Manual RedEye. “The presentation touches on several aspects of service, selflessness, and moral guidance. All of these topics go to the fundamentals of law enforcement such as treating everyone equally, service to the public, and being guided by the law.” 

Key Background

The presentation came to light as part of the discovery phase of a lawsuit around the 2018 death of Bradley J. Grant, who was shot and killed by Kentucky State Police. The information was then shared with the student publication Manual RedEye. The presentation also quotes historical figures like Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, but it relies much more so on Hitler and concludes with a slide showing the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima below the German phrase “Über Alles,” which translates to “above all.”

Tangent

The existence of Nazi and Confederate quotes in a police presentation furthers the concerns about deeply ingrained systemic racism in American law enforcement. Kentucky is the site of one of the most poignant examples of the nation’s current racial reckoning when it comes to law enforcement. The state is where Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, was killed when police shot her at least eight times after breaking into her home in March.

Further Reading

KSP training slideshow quotes Hitler, advocates ‘ruthless’ violence (Manual RedEye)

Louisville Police Officer Shot By Boyfriend Of Breonna Taylor Sues Him For Emotional Distress (Forbes)