Bill Colarulo is learning something I discovered a long time ago.
The First Amendment is a wonderful thing ... some of the time.
It gives us the freedom to speak our mind, even when we might regret it seconds after the words come out of our mouths.
I get that feeling every day when I pick up the paper and see something I wish I had worded differently.
I call it the wince factor. If I wince when I read or hear something, I figure that's a sign of trouble. And a sign that readers who don't necessarily share my sense of humor or general cynical outlook on this will be even more upset.
I winced the second I read the comments Colarulo, top cop out in Radnor, gave to my old compatriot Bill Bender of the Philly Daily News in reaction to the horrific fatal shooting of five police officers in Dallas.
Colarulo went off on groups such as Black Lives Matter, calling them "a violent, hateful organization that condones violence against police."
Yep, I winced too.
So apparently did a lot of Radnor residents. They packed the commissioners meeting Monday night to take umbrage at their police superintendent's comments.
But Colarulo beat them to the punch, admitting he regretted the statement and making what he referred to as a "blanket statement."
"I should have specified that I was talking about a small segment of hte Black Lives Matter movement that, truth be told, may have just hijacked that name or may not have been associated with the Black Lives Matter movement," Colarulo said.
He, as well as the commissioners, got an earful from residents.
You can read the full story here.
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