At various points in the past, the public perception of police ranged from heroes to a few bad apples. Television created mythical cops who were not only endearing public servants who protected us from mustachioed villains, but had magical powers to know the good guys from th bad. No TV show, even on cable, showed the street cop tossing some random black kid against a wall for his daily stop and frisk, or reply to a question in the usual cop lingo of “shut the fuck up, asshole.”

There was a lot of bad that somehow never managed to make it into the public’s eye. Well, some of the public, anyway. What they didn’t do on Park Avenue was done daily on 168th Street. And no, it wasn’t because they deserved it, but just because that’s the way it happened.

Over the past couple weeks, what they did routinely to black and Hispanic people was caught on camera as police reacted to protests in ways that were shocking and outrageous. Durham, North Carolina criminal defense lawyer (and Fault Lines alum) Greg Doucette amassed an archive of videos of violence and abuse, cops engaging in criminal conduct against their fellow Americans. Not looters. Not rioters. Protesters, reporters, bystanders. Their conduct was inexplicable and inexcusable. And criminal.

And the outrage grew, with not only good cause, but with the cops who didn’t care what they did and who saw it begging for condemnation. And, if prosecutors do their jobs, prosecution.

But as much as many cops, too many cops, earned the outrage being dumped on them, the myth changed from all cops are heroes to all cops are serial killers. As the videos showed, and as can be rightfully assumed happened off-camera as well, many police officers treated their fellow Americans, their fellow human beings, like every one was a threat, every one was their enemy. This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon.

At the same time, the outrage against cops was blind, was overarching and was just as indiscriminate as the cops’ treatment of protesters. No, they’re not equivalents. Not by a long shot. But it’s also not helpful to be guided only by outrage and to be as indiscriminately outraged as cops were indiscriminately violent. The mob, however, was on a roll, and who would be foolish enough to urge it to reflect, to distinguish between the cops who weren’t serial killers, the ones who marched with protesters, the cops who didn’t beat anyone and enabled the exercise of constitutional rights, as their duty required.

Only an old fool would take such a chance, one whose career was spent calling out police misconduct, violence and impropriety, in the hope that the unduly passionate might consider that history, that effort that started before many of the outraged were born. So I gave it a shot.

It pains me to say this, but as much as police violence, brutality and misconduct has earned the condemnation of every decent person, the anti-cop rhetoric has grown too outraged, hysterical and simplistic.

Don’t lose all perspective.

The reaction was somewhat mixed, mostly along the lines of reading comprehension. Granted, the nature of outrage isn’t conducive to nuance, any more than the nature of social media. The binary rules, where one is either part of the mob or the enemy of the mob. That much of the mob is comprised of lawyers is disconcerting, as I would hope they have the capacity to understand better, to think even when they’re rightfully outraged at all that was horrible, about losing their heads. But that wasn’t to be for a certain cohort.

I would like to think that we’re capable of being better, smarter, than the most mindlessly simplistic radical. I would like to think that I’ve built up enough credibility over the years so that the radicals accept that, even if they believe I’m wrong and far too moderate by not hating what they want me to hate, my views are in good faith.

It doesn’t appear to be the case. They may tolerate me when I write things they agree with, but when I urge them not to “lose all perspective,” I’m a badge-licking cop apologist. Will this change when things calm down? Will this change when the wind blows in a different direction and they focus their outrage on the next worst thing ever? Beats me. But to the extent my efforts here over the years have earned me enough goodwill not to be the target of the mob, it doesn’t appear to be the case.

Mind you, it won’t change what I think or what I write. But whether that matters is questionable. I’ve long been aware that the critical race and gender theory crowd sees me as part of the problem. I’m a traitor to the cause. Their cause. I’m supposed to condemn cops no matter what. I’m supposed to blame racism or sexism for every wrong. That’s what a good ally must do or be complicit.

I have not been a good ally. I haven’t been an ally at all. I’m just that old man shaking his fist at the sky and screaming get off my lawn. And yet, I’ll still fight the same fight for the same reasons, and there’s a good chance I’ll be here doing so long after they’ve moved on to whatever their next outrage will be. I may not have the influence to stem their hysteria, and maybe not the influence to change any mind these days, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give up or join the mob. If nuance is dead, then I’ll be a zombie, because I refuse to be hysterical.