The Liars Are Exposed

But Will Law Enforcement Leaders Learn?

Leaders within any organization should never react or make decisions based on emotion and rhetoric and that important trait, that few could argue with, is non-negotiable. In fact, there are several non-negotiable characteristics that leaders and anyone that adheres to basic human decency should follow with honesty and integrity at the top of the list.

As a leader, this is especially important because of the influence they may have on the organization or the public at large. Few would argue with any of this but if I was to say that all of this was and continues to be violated in a major fashion with Minneapolis 2020 (George Floyd), a large portion of society and leaders within get very anxious if not downright angry.

And with one viral video that non-negotiable mandate simply vanished.

I happen to believe in those non-negotiable leadership traits regardless of the outrage and media manipulation so within a few days after the death of George Floyd, I had some questions, that oddly, no one seemed to care about.

I wasn’t a genius about my intrigue but as cities were burning over a racist cop killer, it made sense to question some of the things being taken as fact.

1. Why wouldn’t the department release the full body camera footage?

2. Was a lethal amount of fentanyl combined with methamphetamine in the body all of a sudden safe?

3. If the autopsy showed no trauma on the body including no strangulation or asphyxiation, how did this supposed murder happen?

No one seemed to care but I was interested. Truth seemed to matter, especially as law enforcement across the country were putting their lives on the line nightly for riots across the country.

I began by going to the Minneapolis Police Department website just a few days after the incident. I clicked on the policy manual and downloaded the use of force policy. What I saw shocked me but even more egregious was the fact that, to this day, you’ve likely never heard of it.

The actions by the officers appeared to be in direct alignment with department policy.

According to the policy, a neck restraint can be used as a form of a “non-deadly option” and is defined as  “compressing one or both sides of a person’s neck with an arm or leg, without applying direct pressure to the trachea or airway (front of the neck).”

I would later find out that in 2014, every police officer received specific training on this technique, called the Maximal Restraint Technique.

I wasn’t some highly experienced investigative journalist. I simply went to the department website and read the policy. Within 24 hours after I saw the policy, it disappeared from the website along with any archival data on the internet. Someone or something literally made it go away…like it never existed.

To this day, none of this seems to bother many folks. It especially doesn’t bother the countless police leaders and police organizations that posted their “look at me” comments on social media in the days that followed the incident.

But it should bother all of us.

The idea that police officers went to work, followed department policy and training, and are sitting in prison today, should scare the hell out of everyone wearing a badge. While this is a fact, it remains something that can’t be said.

But the truth matters…even if it’s not popular.

Thankfully, one reporter had the courage to point out all the horrific lies in this incident. I won’t attempt to cover all of them here but if you want a sense of how sick and twisted all of this is, I highly suggest reading “They’re Lying: The Media, The Left, and the Death of George Floyd.”

I will warn you. The book is loaded with hard truths and facts that you have never been told. It is nothing short of a detailed account of a conspiracy case designed to destroy the lives of police officers and blanket an entire profession as racist.

Ultimately, June 2020, was not a case of bad cops but horrific leadership that violated every sense of decency including the public’s trust.

Their motives were clear…point the blame at the cops (and the profession) so no one points to us.

And if that was a question before, it will be laid out for all to see in the upcoming documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis.”

Unlike the book, that has remained a localized sensation, because the mainstream media wants you to forget their role in this lie, the documentary will be widely distributed and it will be interesting to see how the liars react.

They will play all the tricks including their favorite one these days, censorship. They may attempt to use the legal system as a way to stop the truth and of course they will definitely call anyone within the zip code of the film a racist.

I expect all of that but I am also hopeful.

I am hopeful that our profession and the leaders within learn something from it.

I hope that in the future, decisions and actions aren’t based on emotion and rhetoric.

I hope that truth and integrity will always drive leaders despite any pressure to cave to political correctness or the narrative of the day.

I hope that law enforcement leaders can always do what is right even if they are bring told to do the opposite…or else.

Our profession and the professionals wearing the badge have every right to be cynical.

Most of them know a colleague that has been destroyed because of cowardly leadership based on a lack of integrity and lies.

But I have hope because the opposite is absolute terror for the future of our communities and for the heroic men and women that wear the badge.

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Dr. Travis Yates retired as a commander with a large municipal police department after 30 years of service. He is the author of “The Courageous Police Leader: A Survival Guide for Combating Cowards, Chaos & Lies.” His risk management and leadership seminars have been taught to thousands of professionals across the world. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Doctorate Degree in Strategic Leadership and the CEO of the Courageous Police Leadership Alliance.