An Execution in Bed-Stuy

It’s five a.m. as I write this. I gave up sleeping several hours ago as I have wrestled with this and the nausea that has gripped me since I first heard the reports of the execution of the two NYPD police officers in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn yesterday.

The NYPD lost two brave, young men whose only crime was that they had the audacity to choose to put on the uniform of the finest police department in the world. Last night, a 3rd officer in the Bronx was spared a similar fate when a man pointed a gun at him at point blank range and pulled the trigger.  Fortunately, the gun didn’t fire and they were able to disarm him.

This was all precipitated by an incident at one of the peaceful protest marches. A professor from Baruch College in NYC was arrested after he attempted to throw a metal garbage can off the upper level of the Brooklyn Bridge onto NYPD officers on the roadway below. While attempting to arrest him, other protesters intervened and two NYPD Lieutenants were assaulted.  They were knocked to the ground where they were punched and kicked in their faces by numerous people who also attempted to steal their portable radios so they could not summon assistance.

It was during the same period of protests where chants of “What do we want? Dead Cops! When do we want it? Now!” where heard emanating from the assembled throng.

Over the weeks and months I have watched as a parade of politicians, activists, news pundits and protesters have bashed law enforcement unmercifully. In many instances these peaceful protests have been nothing more than a cover for criminal activity. Where people, acting in a completely debased and savage manner, assaulted, pillaged, burned and called for the deaths of racist police officers.

Yesterday they got exactly what they were looking for.

Of course there will be screams and condemnations. They will claim that this isn’t what they really wanted. That they only want peaceful protests to bring to light their perceived injustices and allegations of racism.

You want to see real racism? Look at the bodies of the two dead officers and understand that they were killed simply because of the color of their uniforms.

Everyone, from the President of the United States to the Mayor of New York City; from the media talking heads to the charlatan community activists, are complicit in the deaths of these two officers. You cannot stand before crowds of people, egging them on, and then, when something happens, pretend you didn’t ask for it. Your actions are like those of a man, handing out free gasoline to arsonists, who then acts shocked when they use it.

To all you celebrities and athletes who had the nerve to walk around with your hands up, or wear shirts, all I can say to you is that you are an utter disgrace.

Here is the truth: Both Michael Brown and Eric Garner were both engaged in criminal behavior at the time of their deaths. That is undisputed fact.

Immediately prior to the shooting, Michael Brown had committed a robbery. When he was stopped by the officer he engaged in a physical confrontation and assaulted the officer. He also tried to disarm the officer and was shot. Michael Brown then began to flee and was pursued by the officer. Officers are charged with upholding the law and he did not have the option to simply let Brown flee. Brown stopped and turned around and by witness accounts he rushed back toward the officers in an offensive manner and was shot fatally. Toxicology reports confirmed he had marijuana in his system.

Michael Brown was 6’4” and 290+ pounds. To put that in perspective, he was bigger than then the average weight of an NFL Defensive Lineman.

The problem with the protest chant: ‘Hand’s Up, Don’t Shoot,’ which became the clarion call of the protesters, was based on a lie. Michael Brown never had his hands up. If he did, he would still be alive.

Prior to the attempted arrest of Eric Garner, the man was engaged in selling loose cigarettes. While many would claim this to be a ‘minor’ charge, the issue is that the police were acting on a history of prior complaints. The fact is that initially, the officers had simply instructed Garner to leave. It was Garner that elevated the incident.  Garner’s own admissions of “every time you see me, you want to mess with me. I'm tired of it. It stops today” indicated that he was drawing a line. Unfortunately, the police enforce the law. We don’t say “oh, you’re breaking the law, but you want me to leave you alone, okay.”

The truth is Eric Garner had an extensive arrest history dating back to 1980, including assault, resisting arrest, and grand larceny. In addition to those charges, there were multiple arrests for selling unlicensed cigarettes. Eric Garner was not simply standing on a street corner, innocently minding his own business. He was breaking the law, perhaps a minor one, but a law that police officers are required to enforce nonetheless.

Eric Garner was 6’3” and 350+ pounds. To put that in perspective, he was bigger than then the average weight of an NFL Offensive Lineman.

The protest shirts: ‘I Can’t Breathe’ became the new catch phrase of the protesters. But the reality is that if Eric Garner had simply put his hands behind his back when instructed, and not made the conscientious decision to physically resist arrest, he would still be alive.

There was no illegal choke hold applied. You only have to look at the video to see that. Garner was subdued and held down because he had been resisting arrest. To all of those who got their police training by watching re-runs of Law and Order, I challenge you to try and take a 350lb man into custody who doesn’t want to comply. When you get him on the ground, you keep him there so he doesn’t get back up and fight you again. Maybe Garner should have thought about the ramifications before he made the choice to resist.

Despite the claims and inferences, by those who seek to fan the flames of racial discord in this country for personal gain, neither man died as a result of police racism. They died as a direct result of their criminal activities.

No, the two men who died as a result of racism, borne out of the false rhetoric callously spewed out by the perennial rabble-rousers, were Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. They were killed simply because they were blue.

The media will now wring their hands with feigned remorse, ignoring the fact that those same hands had just recently been used to fan the flames. The politicians and activists will attempt to back track their positions, saying it really isn’t their fault, and scamper back into the darkness.

And just before Christmas, two families, including a young, 13 year old boy, will bury their heroes, all because of the color of their uniforms.

Fidelis Ad Mortem

Note: In 2014, as of this writing, the number of officers killed in the line of duty stands at 112, up 10% from 2013. That averages to about one line of duty death every three days. Where are the protest marches for the war on police officers?