New AG Loretta Lynch Joins Twitter

Having been officially sworn in as Attorney General on Wednesday by Sonia Sotomayor, Loretta Lynch promptly joined Twitter with her brand-new title. Her first tweet as Attorney General joked about her hectic new job, saying, "Hello, Twitter! Excited to join the conversation and share updates with you. Busy and exciting first few weeks as AG - now I'm joining Twitter." Lynch is the first sitting attorney general to be active on Twitter, according to MSNBC. Her Twitter presence is the first reason why Lynch is the most down-to-earth attorney general.

It's a pretty big deal that Lynch mentioned that she's "excited to join the conversation" on Twitter because, as the new attorney general, she's got quite the hefty list of social justice and race-related conversations to join. But this isn't news to her. She is already working on two nationally-debated cases: the FIFA corruption scandal and the Baltimore police's role in Freddie Gray's death, according to MSNBC. Lynch is also used to working on sensitive issues and tackling them well. During her time as the U.S. attorney for New York's eastern district, she helped put traffickers in prison, broke up prostitution rings, and rescued underage victims who were forced into rings, according to the Guardian.

Lynch already seems to understand the national conversation surrounding police brutality better than most other public officials because she knows how to balance the issues. She's spoken to police officers and extended her support, but she has also opened a federal investigation into the actions of Baltimore police. Here are three reasons Lynch is one of the most down-to-earth attorney generals we've had so far.

She Is Humble About Her Position & The Power She Holds

Lynch's first tweets and responses to welcomes from other government officials on Twitter are a great representation of her practicality and humble personality. Justice Sotomayor swore Lynch in using Frederick Douglass’ Bible, and Lynch even paid tribute to him on Twitter.

Then, when President Barack Obama welcomed her to Twitter from his official account, she answered in the nicest way, thanking him and Sotomayor for the privilege of serving as attorney general.

Even in her Twitter bio, she first describes herself as a North Carolinian and a "Brooklynite" before listing her official positions.

She Quickly Stepped Up To The Plate On Police Brutality

Just eight days after she was sworn in as attorney general, Lynch visited the family of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man who died of a fatal spine injury after being arrested by Baltimore police, and then also spoke with community and civic leaders and the police department, according to the Los Angeles Times. The LA Times pointed out that Lynch's predecessor, Eric H. Holder Jr., visited Ferguson, Missouri, after riots erupted as a response to the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. But Holder did not meet with rank-and-file police officers. Further, he had trouble connecting with community members without scapegoating police officers. He talked about how he had been profiled by police as a young man in Washington and told community college students, "I understand that mistrust," according to the LA Times.

But Lynch has tried a different — and very important — approach that will hopefully help bridge the gap between police officers and community members. She is telling the families she cares, but she is also reminding officers of how important their jobs are. She addressed officers when she visited Baltimore, according to the LA Times:

You have picked a noble profession. Despite how people may want to portray it, you [should] hold on to that every day.

Then, she went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and met with the family of another police shooting victim as well as the officers working in the city. There, in late May, she launched a national "Community Policing Tour" to help highlight programs that "strengthen police-community relations and foster mutual trust and respect."

She's Was Great At Her Old Job & Is Already Killin' It In As Attorney General

When Lynch served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, she knew what she was doing, to say the least. Carol Robles-Román, deputy mayor of New York City who has worked with Lynch’s office to stop young girls from falling victim to sex traffickers, said Lynch had made “protecting the most vulnerable members of our society a hallmark of her tenure,” according to the Guardian:

The fact of the matter is, with this record, she has been one of the top leaders in the country around the fight against human trafficking.

Her office specialized in breaking up prostitution rings. In the past 10 years, her office delivered more than 55 indictments and helped rescue more than 110 victims, including at least 20 minors, according to the Guardian.

Now, during her first month on the job as attorney general, she assisted in making the first arrests in Zurich that were tied to the FIFA corruption scandal and then announced a widespread investigation into the soccer world's governing body, according to the Guardian. On her second day on the job, she briefed President Obama on the riots in Baltimore, and her momentum on the police brutality front hasn't stopped. Obama spoke of her pragmatic and determined approach during her swearing in, according to the Guardian:

It’s funny that we are installing Loretta today. It’s not like she was waiting around for an embossed invitation. She hit the ground running from day one. She’s already made her mark here at home and abroad because of her laser focus on the core mission of the justice department: the protection of the American people.

Lynch's hit-the-ground running attitude shows that she isn't interested in taking problems slowly or one at a time — a necessary quality for the person taking on the long list of sensitive issues surrounding justice and the legal system in the U.S.

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