“The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is racist! They are at least partially responsible for the deaths of law enforcement officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge! Police officers’ behavior around black people is justified because black men are responsible for up to 75% of all shootings!”

Thus speaks Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Heather Mac Donald, and others opposed to the movement.

So how responsible is the BLM movement for the targeted murders of police officers?

In the 1990s, pro-life advocates spoke of abortion as murdering unborn babies and compared it to the Holocaust. Attacks against clinics where abortions were performed punctuated news headlines. Protesters shouting “Whore!” “Murderer!” and “You’re going to hell!” at women entering clinics. People phoning threats against clinic employees and volunteers. Men vandalizing clinics and killing or wounding doctors and nurses who worked there.

When one of these attacks made headlines, reactions among pro-life spokespeople (mostly men) fell into a pattern. First, a deafening silence, hoping that the media’s interest would wane. If pro-choice protests gained traction, pro-life spokespeople would claim that the perpetrator wasn’t part of the movement; indeed, I remember Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family suggesting that “pro-abortion” activists had committed these acts to make the pro-life side look bad. If that approach failed, pro-life advocates resorted to a brief, muted acknowledgement that the actions were wrong, then explaining in a much louder voice that they were the true victims.

In the late 1990s, I became involved with the project encouraging pro-life and pro-choice activists to dialogue instead of throwing verbal grenades. As these quiet conversations continued, pro-life activists acknowledged how comparing abortion to murder and the holocaust might encourage people to attack clinics, and pro-choice activists grew to accept that almost all pro-life activists opposed these attacks, and many were unhappy with the language being used. And both groups found that they could work together towards preventing teen pregnancy and promoting adoption.

The pro-life and BLM movements are both in the less-powerful position trying to affect change in hot-button issues. It appears that those who attacked clinic staff and police officers were experiencing some sort of mental illness. Some members of each group have used incendiary language: chants of “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!”: and “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon” at BLM demonstrations, and 1990s pro-lifers use of the phrases “murdering babies” and “the Holocaust.” Like 1990 pro-life activists, some BLM leaders run from taking responsibility for their movement’s incendiary language through silence, denial, and lame apologies. And like many 1990s pro-choice advocates, many BLM opponents refuse to empathize with the concerns of those who disagree with them, hoping that their stridence will silence their opponents. But that tactic hasn’t worked with pro-life advocates, and it won’t work with BLM advocates either.

I wish that BLM leaders had encouraged the temporary suspension of protests to show respect for the Dallas officers who had been shot. I wish that the peacebuilding efforts between leaders of the African American and law enforcement communities that seem to be reducing crime and community complaints were publicized more broadly. I wish that advocates would police the words and actions of their followers before critiquing those with whom they disagree. And I wish advocates would understand that bombast will fire up both those who agree and disagree with them.

And that sometimes that fire brings forth violent flashes.