<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453141072.jpeg" alt="Hundreds of police supporters demonstrate for a Back the Blue rally Tuesday in downtown Topeka ahead of a special council meeting to discuss potential police reform. (Photos by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Hundreds of police supporters demonstrate for a Back the Blue rally Tuesday in downtown Topeka ahead of a special council meeting to discuss potential police reform. (Photos by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Three Republican candidates for Legislature address crowd</h2>By SHERMAN SMITH <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/25/hundreds-rally-in-topeka-to-back-the-blue-in-clash-with-black-lives-matter/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — Hundreds of 
police supporters gathered Tuesday afternoon outside the capital’s city 
hall to protest demands by Black Lives Matter.Standing in sweltering 
heat, they chanted “back the blue,” joined in prayer, sang “God Bless 
America,” and cheered speakers, including three Republican candidates 
for the Kansas Legislature, who urged them to brace for a long battle 
against activists who would restrict police from keeping them safe.The demonstration <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/08/25/politics-misinformation-undermine-topeka-debate-on-police-reform/" target="_blank">preceded a special city council meeting</a> in which dozens of community members signed up to speak in favor or opposition of proposed police reforms.Some of the rally 
participants hawked T-shirts. Virtually all of them were white, and few 
wore masks as they packed into shady corners of the city block.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453205115.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>A contingent of Black Lives Matter supporters held court on the edge of the larger protest, engaging in spirited verbal clashes.“Black lives matter!”“Jesus matters!”“Jesus was black, baby!”“This is like a comedy show I didn’t even have a ticket for.”The rally was organized by
 retired Topeka police officer Ron Gish in response to various proposals
 inspired by the death of George Floyd earlier this year, and countless 
other Black men and women who have been killed by police nationwide. In 
Topeka, Black Lives Matter is asking the city council to overhaul 
qualified immunity for police officers, classify a chokehold as a crime,
 prohibit racial profiling, establish a registry of police misconduct to
 be maintained by the U.S. Department of Justice, and create a civilian 
review board to represent and empower the community.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453262178.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>“When we say Black Lives 
Matter, we’re talking about more than police brutality,” said Pjay 
Carter, an organizer for Black Lives Matter-Topeka. “We’re talking about
 incarceration, health care, housing, education, and economics — all the
 different components of a broader system that has created the reality 
we see today, where Black people are incarcerated at more than five 
times the rate of white people, where Black people are given harsher 
sentences for the same offenses, where Black people are more likely to 
be held on bail pretrial, and where Black people are dying not only at 
the hands of police, but because of an unequal health care system.“Black lives should matter
 in all stages of life, and to honor that truth, we must radically 
transform the system from its roots.”Speakers at the pro-police rally warned supporters of the dangers of pursing such reform.“We have to be vigilant,” 
said Francis Slobodnik, a Topeka resident and district manager for the 
American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, 
which bills itself as Catholic inspired and is known as an anti-LGBTQ 
group.“Be vigilant,” Slobodnik 
told the crowd. “Because what the people who want to reduce the police, 
weaken the police, what they will do is they will try to wait us out. 
They will hope we fall asleep.”Republican Jeff Coen, a 
former Topeka councilman who is now running against Democratic Rep. Jim 
Gartner, lamented how the council in one year had gone from talking 
about fixing potholes and water main lines to talk of police reform.“You know, if one of our 
officers was struggling with a bad guy, and it was a chance to get a 
little jujitsu action to put the person to sleep, so they could put the 
handcuffs on him — that’s not asking for much,” Coen said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453336191.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Janlyn Nesbett Tucker, a 
Republican who is running for a Statehouse seat held by Democratic Rep. 
Annie Kuether, led the crowd in chanting the names of fallen Topeka 
police officers. It was her take on the “say his name” references to 
Floyd.“When someone says, ‘Black
 lives matter,’ and we say, ‘All lives matter,’ it’s like saying, ‘My 
grandmother died,’ and, ‘Well, all grandmothers die.’ And you know, I 
want us to really think about that,” she said.She continued:&nbsp;“I believe 
in my heart of hearts that what started off as an awareness movement has
 turned into something that is so out of control, that we are going to 
be lucky if we ever get control of it again. And it’s going to be up to 
us to stand up and say, ‘No, this is not right.’ ”<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453396190.jpeg" alt="Republican legislative candidate Janlyn Nesbett Tucker tells the crowd that efforts to raise awareness have evolved into an out-of-control effort to restrict police. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Republican legislative candidate Janlyn Nesbett Tucker tells the crowd that efforts to raise awareness have evolved into an out-of-control effort to restrict police. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>Michael Martin, a retired 
investigator for the Topeka Fire Department, is the Republican candidate
 running for a Statehouse seat held by Democratic Rep. John Alcala. He 
urged the community to get better at treating law enforcement officers 
well. Police need more funding, he said, not less.“They’re to be our sheep 
dogs,” Martin said. “They’re to guard the flock. And we need to make 
sure that you don’t protect the flock by hobbling them, putting them in 
cages, or unnecessarily punishing the sheep dog. You protect the flock 
by making sure the sheep dog has the tools necessary.”He added:&nbsp;“Why are we so 
divisive on this issue? Because it’s Topeka, Kansas. OK? We don’t have 
the problems on the east and west coasts. We don’t have those problems. 
This is Kansas. We’re better than that.”Reeves Oyster, 
communications director for the Kansas Democratic Party, responded in an
 email to the remarks by Republicans. She pointed to the shooting this 
week of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as the 
latest “tragic example of police brutality, white supremacy and 
institutional racism,” and said it was disappointing to see political 
hopefuls denying the issues impacting their communities.“In times of crisis, we 
need leaders who listen, show empathy and acknowledge the uncomfortable 
realities needed to move forward — not spread disinformation or block 
needed progress for the sake of a political agenda,” Oyster said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/8/1598453427715.jpeg" alt="A Black Lives Matter demonstrator flips off police supporters at the end of Tuesday’s rally. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>A Black Lives Matter demonstrator flips off police supporters at the end of Tuesday’s rally. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>As rally participants 
began to disperse ahead of the special meeting, several police 
supporters moved to escape a camera’s view of a Black Lives Matter 
demonstrator who had climbed to a high point to flip them off.“Come on, let’s make it a family photo — me and the KKK,” the Black Lives Matter demonstrator said.“He’s family, alright — if I s*** him out my a**,” the police supporter replied.Sherman Smith has written award-winning news stories about the instability of the Kansas foster care system, misconduct by government officials, sexual abuse, technology, education, and the Legislature.&nbsp;

Hundreds rally in Topeka to ‘back the blue’ in clash with Black Lives Matter