Davis, CA – A student group at UC Davis has called out the photo of murdered Officer Natalie Corona for being racist.

The Associated Students, University of California, Davis, (ASUCD) Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission made an announcement on Friday about Officer Corona’s photo.

“First and foremost, we would like to send our deepest condolences to the police officer’s family,” the statement said before explaining why the murdered officer’s photo is racist.

“We would also like to provide resources for students triggered by this event and the circulating images of a flag that has been popularized by the ‘Blue Lives Matter’ crowd,” their statement said. “We see it necessary to call-out all community members who continue to post and disseminate images of the Blue Lives Matter flag online.”

The commission’s announcement went on to explain how the sight of law enforcement officers can be “triggering to many Black and Brown people.”

“In addition, there has been the circulation of an image of the police officer with the Blue Lives Matter flag,” the commission wrote before going into a false history of Blue Lives Matter.

The flag they are referring to is an American Thin Blue Line Flag, which is often colloquially referred to as a Blue Lives Matter flag. Activists frequently use the “Blue Lives Matter flag” name in an attempt to discredit support for law enforcement by attempting to tie it to Blue Lives Matter, which they also attempt to discredit with false claims of racism.

Blue Lives Matter’s only actual connection to the Thin Blue Line Flag is that the flag shows support for law enforcement, and Blue Lives Matter uses the flag to show support for law enforcement.

“The flag is blatantly anti-Black and disrespectful,” the student group concluded.

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The commission also provided resources for students “triggered” by the sight of law enforcement.

Following their announcement, the student group posted that they had received backlash and said that they stand by their statement that “this flag is racist.”

They then provided a link to an article by Dr. Michael I. Niman which claims that the flag is racist. However, the article claims that the flag is racist for entirely different reasons that the commission, and contradicts the beliefs of the student group.

The only thing that Dr. Niman’s article and the student group’s announcement appear to agree on is that the Thin Blue Line Flags have been carried by actual white supremacists and white nationalists. This claim is true. This is generally done as part of a broader effort by racists to claim support for conservative causes in order to align themselves with conservatives as part of their recruitment efforts.

In reality, it’s impossible for racists to honestly support law enforcement because law enforcement is made up of people of all races.

Dr. Niman’s article then conflates Blue Lives Matter with the flag while actually claiming that Black Lives Matter is pro-law enforcement. “It is not an anti-police movement,” he claims.

Even if you ignore the calls for violence against police by Black Lives Matter activists, Dr. Niman ignores that the activists routinely call for the abolition of police. In fact, the student commission themselves posted a photo in November calling for the abolition of police.

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In his article, Dr. Niman doesn’t seem to understand the purpose for Blue Lives Matter, and so he jumps to the conclusion that Blue Lives Matter is racist. He makes this logical leap in much the same way that people see a police use of force, don’t understand why force was used, and then jump to the conclusion that it must have happened because the police are racist.

Blue Lives Matter strongly opposes all forms of racism and ethno-nationalism, including, specifically white supremacy, white nationalism, identitarianism, and whatever else racists are calling themselves these days.

Black Lives Matter activists promote black nationalism in addition to inciting violence against police.

Not all students in ASUCD appear to share the commission’s belief about law enforcement.

ASUCD President Michael Gofman posted a response to the commission writing, “Its easy to sit on the third floor of the Memorial Union when there are at least 100 brave men and women in blue between you and the shooter. It is easy to argue hypotheticals, politics, and ideology when you’re in safety. I am ashamed that some of these same people, protected by the very officers that they are condemning, have the audacity to politicize the loss of a young officer. [H]er only crime was being a police officer.”

“I wholeheartedly condemn the Ethnic and Cultural Affairs commission for this disgusting post, and urge them to take it down and issue an apology,” Gofman concluded.