LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell received the endorsement of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police on Tuesday morning.
The endorsement was delivered by Clark County (Kentucky) Sheriff Berl Perdue, who also serves as President of the Kentucky FOP, during a morning news conference in Lexington, according to a report by LEX 18.
"The candidate we have chosen is, and has for many years, been a champion and supporter of law enforcement," Perdue said. "He has always been a defender of the Constitution and and advocate for law enforcement."
While accepting the endorsement, McConnell said law enforcement, "has always been an issue," but it's "been on full display" this year, citing recent protests across the country.
"I think that Kentuckians and Americans are intelligent enough to draw a distinction between peaceful protesting and constitutionally protected activity, and rioting and looting and tearing down statues," McConnell said.
McConnell referred to the tearing down of statues of historical figures, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, as "mindless behavior."
"The American people, I think, fully understand that most police officers are honest, upright people doing an extremely difficult job and enjoy our respect," McConnell said.
McConnell also called efforts across the country to defund the police as a "nutty notion," implying it won't make communities safer.
"If you are in need of help, and you're under assault, are you going to call a social worker? I think not," McConnell said.
McConnell admitted that there are some bad apples among police officers, citing the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis as an example. He also noted that the Breonna Taylor case is still being investigated.
McConnell also referenced the JUSTICE Act, a bill introduced by Republican Senator Tim Scott that would improve and reform policing practices, accountability and transparency. He suggested that Senate Democrats wouldn't take up the bill because it included qualified immunity, which protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that they violated a plaintiff's rights.
"If you lose qualified immunity ... it's going to be pretty hard to recruit a police officer," McConnell said. "It seems to me ... you've got two choices: You either don't take the job in the first place, or if you're afraid you're going to be sued because you're trying to break up a fight, you don't get out of the car at all, in which case the fight continues."
Three names will be on the ballot for voters to decide who they want to represent Kentucky in the Senate. Along with McConnell, voters can select Democrat Amy McGgrath, a former U.S. Marine fighter pilot, to represent the state. Brad Barron, a farmer and businessman, has won the Libertarian nomination and will also be on the ballot.
Kentucky's Senate election is Nov. 3.
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