Fatal shootings in the past week of a deputy sheriff near Houston and a police officer in suburban Chicago have led to speculation that the Black Lives Matter movement had prompted an increase in attacks on law enforcers. The Chicago Sun-Times says that data doesn't support such a claim. In 2014, 48 police officers were fatally shot, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. This year, 39 officers will be killed if the current pace holds up, down 19 percent from last year.
In the wake of the recent shootings, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke went on Fox News to say that President Obama “has breathed life into this ugly movement” of “anti-cop madness.” And Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ron Hickman criticized Black Lives Matter while discussing the execution last Friday of one of his deputies. “We've had Black Lives Matter, all lives matter, well, cops' lives matter too,” Hickman said. “So why don't we just drop the qualifier and just say lives matter, and take that to the bank.”