Pants on Fire! Bloggers claim Obama canceled, Trump revived 'police week'

A fake news story is tricking people into thinking that President Barack Obama canceled a national day of remembrance for fallen police officers.

"Obama didn’t want to offend anyone, so our country’s heroes were shut out. Not anymore," reads a post on theexaminer.site that we also found on guerilla.news.

"President Trump made Barack Obama look like a complete fool this morning in front of more than 10,000 police veterans when he announced that he would reinstate a national day of remembrance for fallen officers that the traitor before him had done away with," the story continues.

The story then allegedly quotes Trump as saying, "Police officers in this country will no longer be treated like criminals. Obama decided your fallen didn’t deserve to be honored. That changes today. Americans will remember those that keep our streets safe big time."

However, the Trump quote is fabricated, as is the premise of the story.

The national day of remembrance for police officers killed in the line of the duty currently falls on May 15 each year. It is called Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Obama did not cancel the day, and Trump did not reinstate it.

It was started in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy as part of "police week."  It has been celebrated by presidents -- including Obama and Trump -- ever since.

Obama made remarks at a memorial service in May 2013, honoring the death of Jupiter, Fla., motorcycle police officer Bruce St. Laurent, who was struck and killed as part of a presidential motorcade in September 2012.

"I have the privilege of working with some of the nation’s finest law enforcement officers and professionals every day," Obama said. "And I’m perpetually mindful of the sacrifices they make for me and for my family, and for other leaders and visiting dignitaries, but never more so than when I was told that Officer St. Laurent was struck and killed by another vehicle while driving his motorcycle as part of my motorcade."

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Obama also spoke at a memorial service in May 2015.

"We are here to honor heroes who lost their lives in the line of duty -- men and women who put themselves in the way of danger, so that the rest of us could live in safety," Obama said in 2015. "They were beat cops, deputies, detectives, correctional and forest service officers, federal agents and tribal police.  But to many here today, they went by different titles:  caring husband, loving wife, my son, my daughter, Mom, Dad.

We also found electronic copies of the proclamations Obama signed designating "police week" in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Trump, like other presidents, continued the tradition in 2017. He spoke at a memorial service but did not mention Obama.

"America as a nation must always have the clarity to know the difference between good and evil, between right and wrong, and between those who uphold our laws and those who so easily break them," Trump said. "We owe it to the fallen to act according to our best and highest ideals.  We owe it to their memory to put truth before politics, justice before agendas, and to put the safety and security of the American people above everything else."

Theexaminer.site, where we saw this fake news story appear, includes no "about us" page. The post includes a disclaimer at the bottom referencing a different website, "Note: We at uspostman cannot make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information." Uspostman has been known to share fake news stories before, including a false tale of how Obama’s mother-in-law Marian Robinson was getting a $160,000 a year government pension.

Bloggers claimed that Trump reinstated "a national day of remembrance for fallen officers that the traitor before him had done away with."

The national day of remembrance for police officers killed in the line of the duty currently falls on May 15 each year. It is called Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Obama did not cancel the day, and Trump did not reinstate it.

We rate this claim Pants on Fire.

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2017-05-30 14:30:15 UTC

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Pants on Fire

President Donald Trump "announced that he would reinstate a national day of remembrance for fallen officers that the traitor before him had done away with."

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Monday, May 29, 2017

2017-05-29

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