Holly MatkinLos Angeles, CA – System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan voiced his support for law enforcement and criticized the anti-police Black Lives Matter movement in an Instagram post on Friday.
The July 24 post included photos of two challenge coins and a New York Police Department (NYPD) patch that were gifted to him by NYPD Officer Kegham Jarjokian.
Dolmayan, 47, also included a photo of a typed letter he received from Officer Jarjokian.
“I wanted to send you this patch as an appreciation for your support for law enforcement,” wrote the officer, who has been with the department for nearly 20 years. “Support for the good men and women of law enforcement have been questioned by many yet you have continued to be loyal to your beliefs and not stray from your identity.”
Officer Jarjokian said he truly appreciates “people who can see through the smoke and understand the difficulties” law enforcement officers face.
Dolmayan wrote in the post that he was “proud” of the gift, and that he “will always support the men and women who put their lives on the line to help protect society.”
He then slammed Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association for “kneeling in solidarity” with Black Lives Matter.
Dolmayan said that the gesture proved “that major sports franchises much like most corporations are all about the look and keeping the dollars rolling in.”
“Much like the BLM movement itself [major sports franchises] could [not] care less about black people,” the drummer added.
Dolmayan wrote in a July 6 post that he believes Black Lives Matter and antifa “never had legitimacy…and were always a Democratic Party fundraiser and propaganda tool.”
“They have shown themselves to be the enemy of the people of the United States and have adopted lawlessness emboldened by a sensationalist media and the moronic Hollywood elites who pander to them at every opportunity,” he wrote. “They will be brought to justice but when? How many more innocents need to be murdered before we come to our senses.”
Dolmayan has also previously declared that “there is no systematic racism” in the U.S., and referred to police defunding as “the stupidest thing,” Loudwire reported.
The Lebanon-born drummer has called President Donald Trump “the greatest friend to minorities,” and denounced liberals as cowardly “sheep” who “need to be herded,” according to the news outlet.
“We have an incredible system of government here in the United States, a lot of checks and balances,” he said in a video post, according to Loudwire. “I’m proud to be a part of that as an immigrant who came over here…and worked my way up, and was fortunate in a lot of ways, but worked very hard to get to where I am at.”
“I think that the movement to defund police is probably the stupidest thing that I’ve heard,” Dolmayan added. “And I am a little bit tired of politicians and famous people saying that they think people wanna hear and apologizing for things that they mean when they don’t really wanna apologize.”
In a June 1 Instagram post, Dolmayan called out “famous people” who have been donating funds “to Antifa members incarcerated during these looting sprees.”
“Perhaps your efforts would be better served by helping the thousands of small businesses these people are destroying,” he suggested. “While you hide in your secure compounds and safe places they are on the streets suffering.”
Dolmayan pledged to help those whose businesses were destroyed by rioters.
He denounced the in-custody death of George Floyd, but said it did not change his view of law enforcement officers as a whole.
“I also support the tens of thousands of good intentioned police men and women nationwide who go to work everyday to help keep us safe,” he wrote.
