El Paso Chief Rebuked for Calling Black Lives Matter a "Hate Group"

In a letter to the mayor and the El Paso City Council, local elected officials and community leaders denounced El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen's comments saying Black Lives Matter is a “hate group.”

The sheriff, the county judge and other elected officials called for a news conference Friday to offer condolences not only to the families of five Dallas officers killed in an ambush.

Allen chose not to speak during the news conference, but afterward said, "Black Lives Matter, as far as I'm concerned is a radical hate group and for that purpose alone I think the leadership of this country needs to look a little bit harder at that particular group. The consequences of what we saw in Dallas is due to their efforts."

Saturday, El Paso County Judge Veronica sent out a letter expressing disappointment and concern with Allen's comments.

The letter sent was signed by other locally elected leaders, such as state representatives, the state senator, Congressman Beto O'Rourke and members of the local NAACP chapter, KVIA TV reports.

"We were deeply concerned and disappointed with the statement made by the City of El Paso's Chief of Police, Greg Allen," the letter reads. "This statement, in the chief's official capacity and in uniform, sends exactly the wrong message at a time when good people are working to address a crisis of violence and distrust that disproportionately affects minority communities.  It is ironically out of step with the ongoing reforms the Dallas Police Department itself has been a national leader in - efforts its chief of police has publicly said he remains committed to in spite of the cowardly violence perpetrated in Dallas."