Hollywood star Armie Hammer, known for appearing in movies like “The Social Network” and “The Lone Ranger,” just launched a vile attack on American police officers by saying that they are all “inherently racist.”

Hammer appeared to be responding to the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday night after being pinned down by officers despite the fact that he was handcuffed and defenseless. The vast majority of Americans agree that these officers need to be held accountable for Floyd’s death, but Hammer took things a step further by putting the blame on the almost one million members among American law enforcement.

“Anyone who doesn’t think the current iteration of law enforcement isn’t inherently racist, or doesn’t understand why black people are disproportionately targeted, assaulted, and killed, should look up the history of the word patrolman/pattyroller,” he tweeted. “This s*** isn’t new.”

Anyone who doesn’t think the current iteration of law enforcement isn’t inherently racist, or doesn’t understand why black people are disproportionately targeted, assaulted, and killed, should look up the history of the word patrolman/pattyroller. This shit isn’t new.

— Armie Hammer (@armiehammer) May 29, 2020

Pattyroller is a term that goes all the way back to the pre-Civil War days, when it was used as a term for a slave catcher who is participating in a slave patrol, according to Breitbart News. Back then, they would roam the streets enforcing curfews on blacks while also looking for runaway slaves. Liberals have long claimed that this was the beginning of policing in America, ignoring the fact that police departments were also created in other parts of the country that didn’t have slavery.

Americans on all sides of the political spectrum seem to agree that the officers involved in Floyd’s wrongful death need to be held accountable. However, this does not mean that it’s acceptable for Hammer to use this tragic incident to shame the millions of American police officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect the rest of us.

The vast majority of American police officers are kind-hearted, competent people who got into their line of work with the goal of helping others. They deserve better than this, and Hammer owes them all an apology.

This piece was written by PopZette Staff on May 29, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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