Holding up a police badge, O’Meara said that the actions of police in Minneapolis should not be a stain on the badges of other police officers.
“This isn’t stained by someone in Minneapolis. It still has a shine on it. And so do theirs. So do theirs,” O’Meara said as he gestured to the scores of police officers standing behind him.
O’Meara then pleaded with Americans to stop treating police officers “like animals and thugs,” demanding that cops be treated with some respect.
“Stop treating us like animals and thugs,” he said. “And start treating us with some respect. That’s what we’re here today to say. We’ve been left out of the conversation. We’ve been vilified. It’s disgusting. It’s disgusting. Trying to make us embarrassed of our profession.”