Nine Line’s poll on support for police yields shock results, but not why you think… Kaila D. March 11, 2020 Nine Line News 425 Nine Line’s poll on support for police yields shock results, but not why you think Since Nine Line was born, from day one, we have always supported law enforcement. It is one of our core tenets as a company: to “support those who have and continue to serve honorably as members of the military, police, fire department, or any other public service.” As part of that same tenet, we pledge to “hold those who abuse their power accountable but understand they do not represent the entirety of those who serve to protect us.” As much as we support the Second Amendment, we also support the First. We respect the right of people to disagree with us. We can agree to disagree on certain issues. We are unabashed about our patriotism and support for this country, and never back away from defending American principles. We will never shy away from addressing difficult issues because they need to be discussed out in the open. That’s how change is brought about. In the spirit of discourse today, we posted a poll on our Facebook page about whether or not American’s supported the officers of the Thin Blue Line. Of course, our answer is 100 percent yes. Always has, always will be. For the first hour the poll appeared, responses were exactly as we would have expected for our audience: those who agreed with us were in the majority. But then during the second hour, the results flipped. Those who voted “mmm no,” they did not support LEO, became the majority. Were these real followers of Nine Line’s page? Or simply trolls who saw an opportunity to bash the police? On Facebook, there’s no way to know. But then an equally disturbing result emerged. Our own audience began attacking Nine Line for having the nerve to even post this poll and invite people to provide an opinion contrary to theirs. We were taken aback. We will NEVER sidestep controversial discussions, but when the conversation we’re facilitating is no longer productive and crosses the line from free speech to hate, we will put a stop to it and address this issue. For that reason, we took down the poll. Enough is enough. But we felt it was important to let you know why, and make sure it’s clear how we feel. Just as we cannot control who buys our merchandise, we cannot control what’s in people’s minds. We stand firm in our support for all those who honorably serve. And that will never, ever change.
