Left-wing actress Susan Sarandon is attempting to retract her comparison of an NYPD funeral to fascism. The actress reposted an image of the funeral of Detective Jason Rivera which included the caption “I’m gonna tell my kids this is what fascism looks like.” Sarandon added her own caption to the post, asking why the police officers are needed at all in the city if they could be spared to attend the funeral of one of their number.
Susan Sarandon apologizes
Sarandon posted a brief apology on her Twitter account, using the questionable excuse that she had not recognized that the image she reposted showed a funeral.
The post received hundreds of responses from left-wing Twitter users upset that she had issued an apology for a remark they had seen as perfectly reasonable.
Sarandon is a very vocal supporter of the campaign to abolish the police altogether, having thrown herself enthusiastically into the anti-police movement with BLM.
Police organizations expressed their disgust in a number of posts, pointing out that the wealthy celebrity was attacking law enforcement for protecting normal communities.
Detective Jason Rivera was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call on the night of January 21. He was 22-years-old.
Thousands of NYPD officers and thousands of spectators lined the streets of Manhattan to pay their respects and witness the funeral procession.
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) February 4, 2022
NYPD funeral triggers leftist outrage
Susan Sarandon has been a very active leftist for decades. She has participated in protests against Donald Trump and supported the Black Lives Matter cause.
This is not the first time she has employed controversial ideological labels; in 2011 she called Pope Benedict XVI a “Nazi.”
The pope was conscripted into the Hitler Youth as a 14-year-old, making the description only slightly less baseless than calling an NYPD funeral a fascist event.
Fascism is a specific ideology which emerged in the first half of the 20th century in Europe, but to liberal Americans it has come to be a label for anything that looks too orderly and well structured.
Sarandon and other leftists were disturbed by the sight of so many people in uniform gathered into one place. Slain NYPD officers are traditionally given big funerals.
The actress received enough criticism to feel that she needed to issue an apology, but the initial reaction undoubtedly reflects her true attitude.
