After someone drove past his house Monday night and fired shots, a Tennessee sheriff publicly mulled whether Beyoncé’s politically-charged Super Bowl performance and new music video could have incited the shooting.
During a Tuesday morning press conference, Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold said he did not know the motive for the shooting, according to The Tennessean.
“Other than me being in my position, the chief law enforcement officer of the county,” he said. “That’s the only thing that I can think of, is just me in my position as a whole.”
A reporter then mentioned that there have been instances where law enforcement officers have been targeted.
“Well, that’s actually what I thought about,” Arnold said in response.
“With everything that’s happened since the Super Bowl, and with law enforcement as a whole,” he continued, noting that he believes law enforcement officers have been targeted since the Super Bowl.
When asked what he meant by the Super Bowl, Arnold cited “Beyoncé’s video.”
Some conservatives had balked at Beyoncé’s performance during the Super Bowl half-time show, warning that her references to the Black Panthers could incite violence against the police. Those critics also characterized the video for her song “Formation” as “anti-cop.”
Arnold told reporters on Tuesday that he heard about six shots outside of his house, although none of them appeared to hit his home. Officers found six casings on the ground near the home, according to The Tennessean.
Watch part of the press conference via The Tennessean:
