Strickland doubles down on defense of officers after Frayser riot | The 901

A day after Memphis police and protesters clashed, sending six officers to the hospital, Mayor Jim Strickland doubled down Thursday on his defense of the officers' conduct.

Asked if the city's officers could have done anything differently during the riot sparked by the fatal shooting of Brandon Webber in Frayser by U.S. Marshals Service officers, Strickland gave a terse reply: "No. The citizens need to do something different," he said, his hands folded, his face stern. "These were criminal actions. There's no excuse."

And, just like that, a local tragedy has become a major issue in the mayor's race.

During the upcoming mayoral debates and panels, Strickland will probably catch some substantial heat for that comment — especially from one of his leading opponents, Tami Sawyer. Sawyer, a Democratic activist who rode the "blue wave" into the Shelby County Commission last year, has already criticized the city for escalating the situation.

In the wake of the clash at Overton Crossing and Argonne, Strickland could have called for an investigation into whether officers taunted protesters, as some activists have claimed. Or into whether officers were right to fire tear gas into a crowd that reportedly had children in it. Or whether tear gas was appropriately used in a neighborhood. Or whether officers took action to defuse the conflict long before the first rock was thrown.

Maybe officers are completely innocent. But more likely, officers can learn something from an incident that, according to Strickland, mildly injured 35 law enforcement officers.

But why didn't Strickland take the diplomatic way out? He could have easily switched to politicalese, saying he's deeply concerned that there was a conflict at all, and how he'll look into it, and how his administration will make any changes that need to be made.

Instead, Strickland took a hard stance that will infuriate political progressives. Why?

It could be that Strickland, who was holed up with his staff at City Hall during the riot, was too emotionally raw to mince words. Or that he just calls it like he sees it. Or that he's grown impatient with local activists, whom he sees as a vocal minority that doesn't speak for the vast majority of voters. But a more likely reason could be that Strickland is again staking out his claim to being the "tough on crime" candidate.

Think it through with me. Strickland unseated incumbent mayor A C Wharton in 2015 in large part because he successfully argued to voters that Wharton was weak on crime. But this time around, Strickland is the incumbent — if voters feel unsafe, that's on him. It's hard to be the "tough on crime" candidate when you're already the one in charge.

Then came the riot and Strickland's golden opportunity. At first glance, the shooting of Webber — who was armed and wanted by the feds on multiple warrants, including violent felony offenses — seems like it might be justified. And protesters made the mistake of throwing rocks at police officers, creating sympathy for them.

By planting his flag in this issue — supporting police officers — Strickland has set what could be a favorable stage for him ahead of the Oct. 3 election.

If, that is, voters are still mad as hell about the state of public safety, like in 2015.

Maybe times have changed.

Sawyer seems less interested in talking about the problem of crime than talking about the problems behind the problem of crime. She's hoping voters are hungry for a more progressive approach than Strickland has offered, one that, as she might put it, is more concerned with emptying jails than filling them.

Meanwhile, another prominent candidate in the race, former mayor Willie Herenton, has so far remained publicly silent on the riot — although he's clearly no progressive.

Maybe Strickland and his team aren't as politically calculating as to try to win votes off of his response to the riots. But either way, his fierce defense of officers could draw a deep line in the sand between him and his opponents ahead of the city elections.

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 9:01, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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