On Monday, the nation celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and President Biden (D) delivered a speech where he spoke about police brutality and retraining, “assault weapons,” and the strength that the U.S. government possesses and can use on its own people.
According to a Fox News article, Biden was quoted as saying this:
“And I'll say what I said then I'll say it over and over again. I am going to get assault weapons banned. I did it once. I'm going to do it again. There's no social redeeming value. They aren't wearing Kevlar vests out there. What the hell you need an assault-- No, I'm serious. And ban the number of bullets that go in a magazine. There's no need for any of that. I love my right-wing friends who talk about the Tree of Liberty as water of the blood of patriots. If you need work about taking on the federal government, you need some F-15s. You don't need an AR-15. I'm serious. Think about it. Think about the rationale for this," said President Biden.
Moreover, Biden gave his thoughts about changing police training as well, at one point stating “The fact is, if you need to use your weapon, you don’t have to do that.”
Biden: "We have to retrain cops. Why should you always shoot with deadly force? The fact is if you need to use your weapon, you don't have to do that." pic.twitter.com/S5WaUHYhff
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) January 16, 2023
“We have to retrain cops as to why should you always shoot for that with deadly force? The fact is, if you need to use your weapon, you don't have to do that. And look to call a fresh approach to recruit how we recruit, how we hire, how we train, how we promote and how we retain, retain in law enforcement that come from the neighborhoods that they serve and know the people they're charged to protect," Biden stated.
Ryan Petty, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland school shoooting and member of the Florida State Board of Education, criticized the President for speaking about trying to keep police officers from using deadly force in hostile situations during his MLK Day address.
Ole’ shoot ‘em in the leg is back at it.
This man has no actual law enforcement experience. Actually, he has no real world experience at all. https://t.co/Zk9f0SASyR
— Ryan Petty (@rpetty) January 16, 2023
“Ole’ shoot ‘em in the leg is back at it. This man has no actual law enforcement experience. Actually, he has no real world experience at all,” tweeted Petty.
Should the President look to retrain police officers and ban “assault weapons,” the latter would surely cause an uproar from the Republican Party.
