In a somewhat shocking statement, a Nebraska state senator called police in the U.S. “his ISIS” and stated the militant group’s mindset can be found right here in America.
The Daily Caller reported that during a legislative hearing on Friday, Senator Ernie Chambers said the Islamic State mentality doesn’t just exist in the Middle East, but can be found in U.S. police officers.
“If I was going to carry a weapon, it wouldn’t be against you, it wouldn’t be against these people who come here that I might have a dispute with. Mine would be for the police,” he said during the hearing. “And if I carried a gun I’d want to shoot him first and then ask questions later, like they say the cop ought to do.”
According to the Nebraska Watchdog, Chambers made his comments on Friday during a hearing on gun bills.
“I wouldn’t go to Syria, I wouldn’t go to Iraq, I wouldn’t go to Afghanistan, I wouldn’t go to Yemen, I wouldn’t go to Tunisia, I wouldn’t go to Lebanon, I wouldn’t go to Jordan, I would do it right here. Nobody from ISIS ever terrorized us as a people as the police do us daily,” Chambers said during the hearing.
“The police are licensed to kill us — children, old people,” he said.
When interviewed on Tuesday, Chambers, who is no stranger to controversy and speaking his mind, took a few steps back from the literal meanings of his comments the day before. He said people in his community feel terrorized by police who can shoot them and often go unprosecuted. He used the recent case of an unarmed Omaha man shot twice in the back by a police officer as an example.
“I don’t carry a weapon. I’ve never carried a weapon,” he said. “But if I were in the situation that some people are in, if you’re going to follow the rule available to cops, just shoot somebody and come up with an alibi.”
“I’m not advocating that anybody, especially anybody in my community, go out and shoot people,” Chambers said, referring to the young people that look up to him and might mistake his comments as a call to action.
Chambers has urged local, state and federal officials to stop the flow of guns into his community. If weapons were coming into “the white community,” he stated law and government leaders would feverishly work to stop it.
“As long as that happens, the violence will continue,” Chambers said, referring to the guns inundating north Omaha.
The Nebraska Watchdog reported that even though Chambers often makes inflammatory statements, his most outrageous comments are seldom covered by Nebraska media because the community is pretty much used to them.
Chambers, 77, is viewed by many as a lovable killjoy, iconic liberal and defender of the exploited. Serving as an independent for 40 years in the Legislature, he is known for his flamboyant statements about slavery, racial tension and Christian hypocrisy.
