Rudy Giuliani condemns Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime performance as an 'outrageous' 'platform to attack police officers'
"This is football, not Hollywood, and I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive," Giuliani said on "Fox & Friends."
Only a day prior to taking the stage in San Francisco, Bey dropped a surprise new single, "Formation," brimming with cultural and political references to the struggles of the black community.
The video for the track opens with Beyoncé crouching atop a New Orleans police cruiser, up to its tires in flood water.
A young boy in a black hoodie - much like Trayvon Martin wore on the day of his fatal shooting at the hands of neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman - also appears multiple times dancing in front of officers dressed in riot gear. Even more clearly, the camera pans to the words "stop shooting us" written in graffiti on a white brick wall.
Performing the song during halftime, Beyoncé continued the message when dozens of dancers wearing black berets, a typical accessory of the Black Panthers - a black nationalist organization formed in the 1960s and largely influenced by Malcolm X - stood behind her in an "x" formation.
Prominent Black Lives Matter organizer DeRay Mckesson tweeted his appreciation.
The #Formation shout-outs to Malcolm X & MJ were excellent. #SB50
- deray mckesson (@deray) February 8, 2016
"[W]hat we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, okay. We'll work on that. But the vast majority of police officers risk their lives to keep us safe."
"Can't you [the Super Bowl organizers] figure out who you're putting on? I mean this is a political position, she's probably going to take advantage of it. You're talking to middle America when you have the Super Bowl, so you can have entertainment. Let's have, you know, decent wholesome entertainment, and not use it as a platform to attack the people who, you know, put their lives at risk to save us."
Watch his full comments here:
Giuliani has suggested that his administration's focus on a policing theory known as "broken windows" saved New York City. The theory, from two criminologists George Kelling and James Wilson, suggests that cracking down on minor disorder, like vandalism, can curtail more serious, even violent, crimes. Kelling, however, has admitted problems with the way New York has applied the approach, specifically its propensity to target minorities - a complaint of many police reform activists.
Giuliani wasn't the only one with harsh words for Bey. Many people have expressed their frustration on Twitter with her song's message.
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