*A white Missouri police officer is currently on unpaid leave after he popped up (in uniform) in a racially charged music video toting a sign reading “cops lives matter.”
St. Joseph patrolman Zackary Craft is also shown reaching for his gun in the video for “Before This Bomb Blows Up (Racism Goes Both Ways)” by Josh Smith, a white rapper from the Kansas City suburb of Independence who goes by J.Smitty.
The video shows Smith rapping about how “racism goes both ways” as he spits on a picture of Rev. Al Sharpton and breaks pictures of Rev. Jesse Jackson, President Barack Obama and hooded KKK members. He then burns the images.
Craft is also seen holding a hand-written sign stating “right is right” and “wrong is wrong.”
“The department in no way condones the video in its entirety,” said police spokesman Capt. Jeff Wilson. He said Craft is on leave pending a due-process hearing.
Smith said he took down the video when Craft was suspended last week but reposted it Thursday with Craft’s face blurred.
Craft’s attorney, Morgan Roach, said in a statement that Craft allowed himself to be filmed “without knowing the words, content, or context” and was “appalled” when he saw the video.
“He whole-heartedly rejects the song, the music video, and the misguided message in its entirety,” Roach wrote.
Watch the video below:
Smith said that Craft, whom he described as a friend, knew the video was “supposed to make cops look good” but didn’t know “quite how far it was going to go.”
“I feel really bad for him,” Smith said. “I hope this all ends well for him and that he is able to keep his job and move on.”
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