The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has confirmed the validity of a leaked memo, in which it advised party candidates on how to engage Black Lives Matter activists while steering clear from supporting BLM policy recommendations. A hacker group which identifies itself as Guccifer 2.0 claimed responsibility for releasing the documents to the public. The memo in question, which is reported to have been sent by former DCCC staffer Troy Perry in November of 2015, was retrieved off of the server of high ranking Minority House leader Nancy Pelosi.
The "do's and don'ts" guide that make up the contents of the memo is being described as a cheat sheet, which was distributed to committee members with the intention of streamlining talking points deemed appropriate when in a discussion with representatives of Black Lives Matter. "Do not say 'all lives matter' nor mention 'black on black crime.' These are viewed as red herring attacks. This response will garner additional media scrutiny and only anger BLM activists. This is the worst response," Perry wrote, before encouraging Democrats to "listen to their concerns" but "don't offer support for concrete policy positions." Some of the solutions to ending police brutality, as offered by the Black Lives Matter's platform, include collecting data on police shootings and the demilitarization of the police.
A Black Lives Matter representative responded to news of the leak by telling VICE News: "We are disappointed. We deserve to be heard, not handled ... We expect that our elected officials will stop pacifying and take us seriously."
Source: huffingtonpost.com
