UTAH, Sept. 2, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Sheriff’s Association has issued a stern letter, demanding an apology, after a Pat Bagley editorial cartoon that ran Tuesday in The Salt Lake Tribune.
The cartoon, titled “A Deep Hate,” showed a doctor viewing an x-ray film with his police-uniformed patient, who has the label “Law Enforcement” on his back.
The x-ray showed the head of a white-hooded Klansman where the patient’s lower spine and hip bones should have been. The caption: “Well, there’s your problem.”
The Utah Sheriff’s Association on Wednesday issued the following statement:
If you did not see Pat Bagley”s cartoon in the Salt Lake Tribune on September 1st, 2020, consider yourself lucky. Unfortunately, many women and men in law enforcement (brown, white, black) did see his cartoon, which stands for the proposition that “law enforcement officers are also Ku Klux Klan members.”
This is not the time for such a divisive piece of journalism, if you can call it journalism, as tensions are already high in Utah and across the country.
This is not the time for such a prejudicial piece of journalism as law enforcement officers across Utah and across the united states go to work every day to protect communities and do their best to help victims of crime and keep the peace.
This is not the time to throw a “hand grenade” (this cartoon) and then, through a decision by someone at the Salt Lake Tribune, block and reject and hide the comments that flooded in — such hypocrisy.
This is not the time to fan the flames as law enforcement leaders and community leaders meet and discuss ways we can all do better when it comes to fair and equal treatment for all, with the goal of finding a peaceful path forward.
And this is not the time for a cheap shot. Pat Bagley, many say, does his best to be funny and we are told he has even been recognized for his work. In the eyes of law enforcement, Mr. Bagley will always be the guy that believes and publishes that law enforcement members are also Ku Klux Klan members — and the guy that stopped free speech (blocked all the comments) after enjoying that precious right himself.
The women and men that swore an oath to protect and serve as members of “law enforcement” demand an apology from Mr. Bagley — unless he truly does believe that all members of are KKK members, and if that is the case, no apology will be forthcoming — Mr. Bagley and the Salt Lake Tribune’s silence will speak volumes.
