Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold heard multiple gunshots (no reported injuries) outside his home Monday night, and he told WATE.com that the incident is a direct correlation to Beyonce’s halftime performance over a week ago.
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“Once I kind of figured everything out you know, with everything that’s happened since the Super Bowl, and with law enforcement as a whole, I mean I think we have lost five to seven officers, five deputies and sheriffs since Sunday’s Super Bowl,” said Arnold. “You know, that’s what I am thinking. You know here is another target on law enforcement.”
He was asked to clarify and added, “Well, you have Beyonce’s video and how that’s kind of led over into other things it seems like, about law enforcement.”
Arnold refers to Beyonce’s song “Formation,” which was performed at the Super Bowl just a few days after she released the music video for the track. Beyonce’s backup singers at the Super Bowl held a sign that read, “Justice 4 Mario Woods,” referring to the 26-year-old man shot dead in December by San Francisco police.
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Her music video features scenes of a young black boy dancing in front of riot police. The video also references the “Hands up, don’t shoot” slogan rooted from the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani felt Beyonce used the Super Bowl platform “to attack police officers.”
