A Los Angeles County Sheriff and its corresponding department recently came under fire for a seemingly innocuous tweet. In the tweet, the Sheriff’s department voiced out their support for the civilian victims of the US military’s recent bombings against Iran– something that drew massive backlash online.
The tweet was posted on Sunday, June 22, by the LA County Sheriff’s official page on X/Twitter and Facebook with the following message:
“Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran. While this tragic event occurred overseas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is closely monitoring the situation alongside our local, state and federal partners,” transcript courtesy of LA County Sheriffs’s Department
Sadly, both the tweet and the Facebook post have been taken down or censored, and in their place, the Sheriff’s official page has released a statement and apology. The original post was also edited, and any mention of “Iran” was removed. They have since retracted their stance on the ongoing war and have reiterated that they do not and will not comment on foreign policy or military matters anymore.
In addition to the apology, the LA department will also be conducting an internal review and investigation as to how the post supporting Iranian victims was greenlit. Many people online have certainly slammed the now-deleted post, stating that it was offensive or inappropriate. So while the Sheriff’s department has taken steps to placate the critics, the post still came across as jarring.
So far, it’s business as usual in the LA County Sheriff’s Department, and their posts have mostly been about missing people in LA. Meanwhile, others who might have sympathized with the Sheriff department’s original post about Iran are now worried that any criticism of the US military’s actions could result in being branded as a “terrorist.”
Odd Stance for a Government Agency
People online were quick to recall something similar happening back in 2001 during the US-Iraq War, where both citizens and government agencies had to be cautious when voicing out support for war victims on foreign land– especially one that the US military is attacking. Apparently, back then, the word “terrorist” was thrown around like a slur.
Some have also questioned the LA Sheriff department’s original post and subsequent actions since not only did they please no one, but they also might have made both sides of the spectrum angry. Initially, their support for Iran bombings riled up conservatives while their self-censorship then disappointed liberals. Either way, the episode didn’t help their image.
Some have joked on the matter, pointing out the irony since LA Sheriff’s were known to be oppressive, especially back on June 14’s No Kings rally, and they even hit the LAPD in a sequence of friendly fire accidents.
“My heart goes out to the victims of the LA Sherrifs’ violence against law abiding citizens,” according to Loose-Currency861
“the sheriff’s department has angerd both sides of the political spectrum by doing that. people who find the attacks justified are still gonna be angry that they made that post in the first place,” argues Cute-Beyond-8133
“2001 all over again, but this time I’m old enough to remember it,” recalls Melodic_Mulberry
“Empathy and kindness gets trashed while hatred and cruelty gets praised. What a crazy timeline,” laments Bluewolf94
