Beyoncé's “Formation,” both her music video and subsequent performance of the song at the Super Bowl, have been celebrated for their jubilant and unapologetic politics. They've also been condemned by the right wing for the same reasons, as manifestations of an imagined ongoing attack on law enforcement.
Sheriff Robert Arnold of Tennessee (one of the top ten states for gun-related deaths) has claimed that the afros and berets of “Formation” transformed themselves into bullets, which were then fired eight times outside of his house on Monday night. He held a press conference attended by local news station WATE (spotted by Gawker), where he claimed to have cracked the case:
“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 sheriff’s since Sunday’s Super Bowl. You know, that’s what I am thinking. You know here is another target on law enforcement.”
WATE caught his line of thinking, and asked him to expand. Luckily, Arnold had a cogent explanation at the ready.
“When asked to clarify what he meant by Super Bowl, he said, “well you have Beyoncé’s video and how that’s kind of led over into other things it seems like, about law enforcement.”
WATE also points out that Arnold is currently under investigation for public corruption, “[stemming] from a contract the company JailCigs had with the sheriff’s office, where it sold e-cigarettes to inmates as a source of income.” But as the shooting has revealed, Arnold is clearly a hero. A hero under attack by the Beyhive and Black Lives Matter, so he couldn't have had anything to do with that.
