Careless Brian Steel must go
Columbus FOP President Brian Steel’s decision to call attorney Sean Walton a “poverty pimp” in a “$3,000 suit” is a problem the union should not be allowed to wave off as union activism or anti-cop outrage.
“Poverty pimp” is a slur with a specific history. It exists to delegitimize Black civil rights advocacy by suggesting that fighting for one’s own community is mercenary.
When the head of a public-facing police union reaches for it in response to a reckless homicide conviction in the killing of Casey Goodson Jr., he is telling Columbus exactly what kind of leadership Lodge 9 has.
This isn’t a one-off. Steel has publicly described an officer’s conviction as one that served no one.
He is alleged to have used FOP resources to support a recall of Whitehall’s first elected African American mayor. A petition demanding his resignation has gathered thousands of signatures in a matter of days.
Steel’s response to the petition was that he “could not care less.”
That tells you everything about the posture. Police union leadership is supposed to make officers safer, not pick public fights with the NAACP and the attorneys for the families of unarmed men killed by police.
Columbus negotiates the FOP’s contract with our money.
The mayor, city council and Lodge 9 membership all have standing to say plainly that the current rhetoric does not represent the city we are. New leadership is overdue.
Carolyn MacBain-Waldo, Columbus
A day of irony
I find it interesting that, on the day the state of Ohio was recognizing law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, a Columbus officer was convicted of killing an armed man.
Perhaps if that officer had waited a few seconds longer, he would have been one of the officers Ohio recognized honored that day.
Larry Smith, Columbus
Men need to figure it out
Re “New Trump rules aim to get women off birth control,” May 8: When I read Nancy Kaffer’s column in the opinion section, it occurred to me that I seldom see a discussion of how men can contribute to the issue of birth control (other than slapping on a condom, withdrawal prior to ejaculation, abstention).
Why is the issue of birth control always placed on the woman?
There are alternatives to this. If you are sure you no longer want to start a family, have a vasectomy. Most men know about this, but I never see it discussed. If you change your mind, reversal is possible. Or you can store your sperm in a “bank” for later use in IVF (in vitro fertilization).
We do not have to place this issue entirely on women.
David J. Hart, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: ‘Poverty pimp’ slur not FOP head’s first blunder. Drive him out of office | Letters
Reporting by Letters to the Editor, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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