Complex sentence: Much like O'Connor himself, Gillespie was racially progressive and politically liberal, but the character of Bill Gillespie was also a smart and tough police officer who was not afraid to use his gun when the occasion called for it.
Split into simpler sentences: Much like O'Connor himself, Gillespie was racially progressive and politically liberal. But the character of Bill Gillespie was also a smart and tough police officer who was not afraid to use his gun when the occasion called for it.