Voice for the Badge finally breaks their silence over the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya with the One Bad Apple Theory

After 43 days of silence, the founder of Voice for the Badge, Johnny Brann Sr., finally responded to the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya……..sort of.

On May 16th, this is what the police apologist group, Voice for the Badge posted on their FB page:

Such a tragic and sad situation occurred in our city in early April.

Prayers for all involved and may Patrick Lyoya rest in peace.

I do understand the anger held by many, but should the entire GRPD be treated like they are all bad officers?

No – they should not – but the cop haters –heck they hated our P.D.  before and now their hatred has escalated even more.

I value our GRPD and if I thought for one second – our department was what has been said the department is-I would not support the GRPD but I do not believe this so my support for our GRPD remains.

Been said…disband, dissolve the VFB  -not happening —No -we have many, many officers that bravely protect us all– as we see on  far to many nights in our city.

Hate me if you like but I will never apologize for supporting the good officers of our GRPD-and why should I?  The far majority of citizens value our P.D. in every section of our city.

Johnny Brann Sr.

In fact why are haters even on our page?

This is the sort of cowardly and unsubstantiated crap we have come to expect from Voice for the Badge. Here are my responses to such drivel.

• The GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya wasn’t a “tragic and sad situation,” it was murder by Officer Schurr, who was following the standard protocol for cops.
• VFB offers up prayers, but no thoughts 
• Then there is the One Bad Apple justification. As Catherine Caruso wrote after the trial of Derek Chauvin – “At this point, the bad apple theory is nothing but an illusion, a convenient way to brush off and ignore a much more deep-rooted and pervasive problem. It’s time to move past the bad apple theory. It will not end systemic racism or police brutality. It will only be used to continue to justify racist police violence and perpetuate a system of injustice.”
• Another commentator put it this way: The ‘bad apple analysis’ however simply obscures the reality that the criminal (in)justice system is not designed to provide safety to those marginalised and minoritised. It never has been. It’s in fact built on the criminalisation and disposability of black people, people of colour, poor people, trans people, disabled people and beyond, in service of those with wealth and power.

After using the one bad apple theory for the GRPD murder of Patrick Lyoya, Johnny Brann Sr. then rambles on about haters and how he doesn’t believe anything the haters have to say. Instead, Brann says that the cops are here to protect us, without offering up any data, analysis or commentary to substantiate such a claim. Sure the cops motto is to protect and to serve, but do they really protect the public? The GRPD rarely prevents crime, they show up after the fact. Ask Black people if the GRPD protect them. Ask undocumented immigrants if they feel protected by the police, or trans and queer people? What about the unhoused or those who are brutalized by the system of Capitalism, which society refers to as “the poor.” Do you think they feel safe and protected when cops are around?

Once more the founder of Voice for the Badge says that the majority of people value the GRPD, and once more he provides no evidence to substantiate such a claim. 

Lastly, Brann signs off by asking the question, “why are haters even on our page?” Well Johnny, speaking for myself, I monitor the Voice for the Badge FB page because I consider your organization as a hate group, a group that perpetuates harm, and a group that is rooted in a White Supremacist ideology.