In recent weeks and months, as Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests against police brutality and racial injustice have taken the nation by storm, a prime target for several of these has been Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. On July 14, over 100 protesters showed up at his house to demand he arrest Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove, Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers who fatally shot Breonna Taylor on March 13, whose name has become a rallying cry for BLM activists.
On Monday, a report was released, showing that the oil and gas, utility, and financial industries play major roles in funding police foundations across the country. According to Gin Armstrong and Derek Seidman of Eyes on the Ties:
"Oil and gas companies, private utilities, and financial institutions that bankroll fossil fuels are all big backers of police foundations, which privately raise money to buy weapons, equipment, and surveillance technology for police departments, bypassing already outsized public police budgets. These corporate actors – from Chevron and Shell to Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase – can be found serving as directors and funders of police foundations nationwide. Furthermore, these companies sponsor events and galas that celebrate the police and remind the public that police power is backed up by corporate power.
"Fossil fuel companies, utilities, and the banks that fund them are prominent political players in any local or regional power structure. These companies, which rely on extraction and exploitation to secure their profits, have an incentive to form tight bonds with police forces, which function to uphold and protect their interests in the face of community opposition. In many states, these companies go so far as to back laws to criminalize protests of dirty energy projects such as pipelines, openly weaponizing the police and criminal justice system to protect the profits of the fossil fuel industry and the banks that fund them."
During his campaign for Attorney General last year, Cameron took $9,200 from the oil and gas industry, the fourth-highest amount for any candidate for statewide office in Kentucky that year. Additionally, he received the third-most money from the financial sector ($105,700), as well as the second-most from utility companies ($6,500). More specifically, among the companies that the aforementioned report lists as the top financial backers of police foundations in each industry, Marathon Petroleum and JPMorgan Chase each contributed $2,000 to Cameron, while Duke Energy gave $1,000 to his campaign.
The day prior to the protest at his house, on July 13, Cameron, whose office is currently investigating the killing, claimed there is still no timeline as to when the investigation will conclude.
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