Sheriff blames Beyoncé for shooting at his home
The Tennessee official isn't a fan of Bey's "Formation" video or Super Bowl 50 halftime performance
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Your support makes all the difference.A Tennessee sheriff said that shots were fired outside his home and he has a few interesting theories as to why.
“We all know, as soon as you put your uniform on, you’re a target,” Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold said at a press conference on Tuesday. “You make people mad when you’re just doing your job.”
When Sheriff Arnold first heard the shots on Monday, he wondered if they were inspired by this year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
“You know, Beyonce’s video,” he said, according to the Daily News Journal.
The pop mega-star's newly released visuals for "Formation," an ode to southern black culture, has been chided by Fox News and other conservative websites who seem to be uncomfortable with celebrating blackness.
Beyoncé also performed the track during the Super Bowl 50 halftime show with backup dancers who dressed as black panthers and formed an "X" formation, an apparent reference to Malcolm X.
The Rutherford County sheriff later clarified his comments to the paper.
“My comments reflect the violence and senseless killing of seven deputies in the US since the show aired. My comments are an observation of the violence that has occurred but in no way is meant to offend anyone.”
The Rutherford County Police Department will continue investigating the incident. No injuries were reported after the shooting.
One witness told Officer Steven Vajcner that he heard five to six gunshots.
“She immediately looked out her window and saw a light-colored, four-door sedan back up and sit still at the house across the street for approximately 60 seconds and head down Osborne Lane towards Memorial Boulevard,” he reportedly filed in his report.
Investigators later found six .22-caliber casings in the street near the sheriff's home.
However, The Daily Beast reports that Sheriff Rutherford has more potential enemies than Beyoncé as he’s currently under investigation by the FBI and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
“On April 10, 2015, at the request of District Attorney General Jennings Jones, TBI Agents began an investigation into activities regarding improper contracts used by the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department, including any specific party involved in the alleged activity,” a TBI spokesperson told the outlet. “Our investigation remains active and ongoing.”
Sheriff Arnold was also sued for $20 million this week by the parents of a former inmate who claim their son was left brain-dead after several beatings in Murfreesboro jail. The victim’s parents said they’d issued several warnings of the alleged attacker, the Daily News Journal reports.