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Veteran civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who has tried to play the statesman during heated protests over police shootings, now faces accusations of incitement after the murder last weekend of two officers in New York City.
Sharpton has worked over the years to shed his reputation as a firebrand, and in recent months had provoked the ire of younger protesters who favor a more confrontational approach. Sharpton, for instance, angered some young activists by rebuffing them when they unexpectedly asked to speak at a march his nonprofit group organized in Washington.
But after the deaths of the two officers, momentum has shifted away from the protesters, at least temporarily, and now some of the most intense pressure is coming from those who say police have been unfairly vilified.
Rep. Peter King, R-NY, and former New York Gov. George Pataki have blamed Sharpton for using rhetoric that they said fostered an anti-police environment. Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said Sharpton and others had "blood on their hands." Conservative commentators posted pictures on Twitter of Sharpton with President Barack Obama to paint the president as a radical on issues of race.
The 60-year-old Obama adviser and MSNBC talk-show host has endured sharp criticism from both flanks, from conservatives who have long seen him as a race-baiting radical to protesters who accuse him of using their movement for self-promotion.
A less experienced civil rights figure might find these waters perilous, but Sharpton's legitimacy goes deeper than the currents of public opinion. He has been working on issues of police brutality for three decades.
"All of the critics, those people have to ask themselves: Why, if Sharpton is so bad, are the families standing there with him?" he said in an interview last week.
In the wake of the police officers' deaths, he has presented himself as a peacemaker, condemning the killings while defending the rights of protesters to continue to denounce what they perceive as racist police tactics.
Sharpton also used his brief remarks to defend New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a close ally who has been criticized for his vocal efforts to reform the police force.
His reputation took a hit in 1987, when he championed the case of Tawana Brawley, a 15-year-old who said she was gang-raped by a group of whites but was discredited by a grand jury.
He rehabilitated his image, trading in his track suits for ties and blazers. But for much of the country, his reputation remains that of an instigator who uses racial divisions to further his own fame.
On Monday, he devoted his hourlong MSNBC show to remembrances the New York police officers, while trying to explain why their deaths should not overshadow the concerns raised by protesters.
Younger activists have criticized Sharpton as too much of an establishment insider. They have not forgotten that he has been critical of the attitude and behavior of black youth.
"Al Sharpton doesn't speak for us," said Erika Maye, a spokeswoman for Freedom Side, an Atlanta-based group involved in the protests. "His focus on respectability, pulling up your pants and getting an education — that doesn't keep our brothers and sisters safe. You can do everything you're supposed to do, but if a police officer sees you, they will see you as a suspect, so you can still be subject to police violence."