Kentucky State Police previously trained cadets with materials quoting Adolf Hitler and Robert E. Lee, according to reports.
A slide show used in training as recently as 2013 encouraged “ruthless violence,” according to a Monday New York Post report. The slideshow includes a quote from Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” saying “the very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence”. (RELATED: ‘Every City Is Preparing For It’: Here’s What Police Are Doing Ahead Of Possible Election Unrest)
The slide show was first acquired by a local high school’s student newspaper, who received it from local attorney David Ward. Ward is engaged in a lawsuit with the state, per the Washington Post.
Confederate General Robert E. Lee is directly quoted in one slide, saying “manliness will carry you through the world much better than policy,” per the student paper, Manual RedEye. One of the final slides simply says “Über Alles,” a phrase heavily associated in Germany with the Nazi Party, the RedEye reported.
“Why anyone would feel it’s appropriate to quote Adolf Hitler is beyond me. I don’t think this is representative of the men and women who serve in the thin gray line,” Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told the Daily Caller.
Communications Director Morgan Hall for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which oversees the State Police, told the Caller that the materials hadn’t been in use since 2013, but that it was “unacceptable” that they had ever been used at all.
Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement Friday that “This is absolutely unacceptable. It is further unacceptable that I just learned about this through social media. We will collect all the facts and take immediate corrective action.” (RELATED: New Orleans Officer Shot In The Face While On Patrol, Police Say)
Hitler was quoted a total of three times in the slide show, per the Washington Post. Police in Kentucky are under increased scrutiny following the killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, which sparked widespread unrest after only one officer was charged in the incident.