Does LeBron deserve a thank you?

Last week there was an officer involved shooting in Columbus, OH in which a person died.  Following the shooting NBA star LeBron James commented on Twitter implying that the officer’s actions were unwarranted or unjustified.  After the police department released body cam video showing that the person shot by the officer was armed with a knife and actively trying to stab another person, people from all walks of life and ethnicity (not just law enforcement) began to criticize LeBron for not educating himself about the incident before making an assumption and “tweeting” his preconceived notions.  Once the wide criticism began, he took down the original “tweet” and published another tweet trying to justify his previous actions, he has also been criticized for that “tweet” as well.

In addition to posting comments on social media, people have been doing videos, some humorous, pointing out the hypocrisy in LeBron James’ original and subsequent “tweet”.  I’ve watched some of the humorous videos as well as various non law enforcement podcasts about the criticisms of LeBron James and voicing their belief that the criticisms are justified, that he should have educated himself on the facts before “tweeting” anything.  One thing I have noticed is that no one has said thank you to LeBron for his “tweet”!  Yes, you read correctly, I said that no one said thank you to LeBron!  While I disagree with his post and believe he was wrong for posting it I will offer a thank you to LeBron for doing so.

 

I say that LeBron James deserves a thank you because with one “tweet” he has proved a point that law enforcement has been trying to make for years.  More importantly he has caused people not involved in law enforcement to understand and whether they realize it or not, to echo what law enforcement professionals have been saying!

 

The vast majority of people in law enforcement view it as a profession, not a job, and when there is an incident with law enforcement that results in a death, they believe that it should be investigated to determine what occurred and if the law enforcement action was appropriate and justified.  What law enforcement has been asking is judge us but judge us based on the facts and circumstances of the incident, not on any preconceived notions.  Law enforcement realizes that there maybe a time in which an officer may act inappropriately, or act based on the individual officer’s preconceived notions.  Law enforcement is not saying that their actions should not be reviewed and scrutinized, they are only asking not to base your opinion or judgement on your own preconceived notions or prejudices.  

That is why many have had an issue with other professional athletes demonstrating against law enforcement, they have done so before having all the information or facts.  The problem has been that these professional athletes have chosen to protest an incident believing that the officer was wrong or that their actions were the result of some hatred towards another person’s race or ethnicity.  When facts reveal that their belief was wrong, that the officer did not act based on race, some chose to ignore those facts or claim the facts were a part of a conspiracy to cover up wrongdoing on the part of the officer.  Rarely does an athlete say they were wrong or allowed their emotions to influence their actions before knowing the facts.

 

When LeBron James posted his “tweets” he did something that law enforcement professionals have been trying to do for several years, that is point out to the public that initial information you hear may not be accurate or complete, it could also be completely wrong.

 

Now, after viewing LeBron James original “tweet” regarding the Columbus, OH shooting many have come to a conclusion that law enforcement has spent years asking for, which is that they be judged on the facts instead of emotions.  Let’s just hope that this is not just a one-time thing, that this does not fade away with time.  My other hope is that LeBron James can stop being defensive for a minute and look at his actions objectively.  If he does that maybe he can learn that same lesson.   

 

That’s my opinion, what’s yours

Returning Soon

 I took a break for the past month and a half in order to take care of a minor medical issue.  I am doing well and recovering well.  As a result I’m preparing to return writing opinions and other articles in the near future.

Thanks for your patience 

Due Process Shouldn’t Be a Political Weapon

Do you think we will ever return to a time when we can set our political animosities aside and wait for facts before we pass judgment or support denying due process to someone we hate?

I'm not saying whether or not the President should have been impeached; what I am saying is that he, just like anyone including those that are being arrested for the insurrection at the Capital on January 6th should be given due process. There should have been an investigation prior to the Articles of Impeachment being submitted on the floor of the House of Representatives. The reason that I'm saying that is because of information that was reported yesterday (January 14, 2021).

It was reported yesterday evening that on Monday, January 4th, two days before the rally in Washington D.C. and the insurrection at the Capital, the FBI had what they believed was credible intelligence that multiple people were planning an attack on and killing police officers at the Capital. The FBI reported that information to the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Washington DC. The Capital Police were also alerted, the Metropolitan Police Department was alerted separately. Additionally, it was also reported that NYPD's Intelligence Unit had similar information. A reporter also confirmed that none of the intelligence was ever given to President Trump.

I think the most important part, at least as far as the impeachment is concerned, is it was also reported yesterday that the effort to breach the Capital began 20 minutes before President Trump took the stage to give his speech! Now I'm not saying that President Trump's Speech was good or even that he doesn't deserve criticism or censure for his conduct, what I am saying is that there should have been an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee before an Impeachment article was placed before the House of Representatives. If an investigation had been conducted first, the information that was reported yesterday could have been looked into and determined the validity or how much importance should be given to the information. But instead the House of Representatives went ahead without conducting an investigation and now if what was reported yesterday turns out to be true it will give credibility to the claims that this latest Impeachment was purely political and without merit. It will also damage the credibility of those that voted for the Articles of Impeachment.

It's interesting that Members of Congress calling for revisions to the judicial system, claiming that it has to ensure due process for all, that all people should be treated the same, are so quick to deny the same when they are the ones passing Judgement. Those that are being arrested for their violent and criminal acts at the Capital, even when their actions were video recorded and posted on social media are being given due process but Congress chose to deny the President of the United States the same.

This can not be about one's support or non support of the person holding office, it can not be about politics, it MUST be about living up to the philosophy that all are equal under the law!

That's My Opinion, What's Yours

The U.S. is on a slippery slope

Many generations have never seen a President of the United States be impeached, my generation has now seen three!

 Regardless who you voted for or your opinion on whether or not President Trump should have been impeached we (as a country) are in trouble. Over night the Secretary of the Army authorized the National Guard troops at the Capital to carry weapons! 

 Think of that, the U.S. will have armed troops at the Capital to ensure the installation of a new President and transfer of power from one administration to another! As a country have we gone too far down that slippery slope?

 Being an optimist I believe that we can turn this around, but it will require us to do something extremely hard, we will have to acknowledge differences of opinion and acknowledge that the mere difference of opinion doesn’t make a person bad! We also have to return to the belief that wrong is not dependent upon what political party one belongs to or what politicians one supports. We need to stop making excuses or justification for wrong actions and return to the philosophy that right is right and wrong is wrong, period!!! 

 When I was with the MPD group that responded to NYC on 9/11/01 I had a Miami Herald reporter come up to me and ask how I felt about what had happened? Just then 2 F16’s flew overhead (President Bush was coming to Ground Zero), I looked at the reporter and said how do you think those pilots must feel flying over a U.S. city with orders to shoot down any aircraft that enters a no fly zone? Can you imagine how those National Guard troops must feel knowing that they may have to use force against other American citizens? I’m sure they never saw that as a possibility when they joined.

 I will end this by saying God bless you and may God bless the U.S. and give us the clarity and strength to stop this madness! May God bless and protect the law enforcement officers and troops that will be on duty protecting our country!

Lessons President-Elect Biden must remember and practice for the good of the country!

I have delayed writing this for a couple of days because I was angry and remembered a lesson I learned a long time ago, that I should not write something until I’ve calmed down. I am not sure if I have calmed down enough to be writing but have decided to do so anyway. I also realize that based on what has happened over the past two days that social media platforms may take negative action against my accounts but that is a topic for another time. 

 On Thursday afternoon, the day after the riot at the Capital Building President-Elect Biden addressed the nation. During his remarks he apparently forgot a lesson that he (and many others) repeatedly said that President Trump needed to remember which is, that words have consequences! Well, Mr. President-Elect your words have consequences, you are no longer a former Senator or former Vice President, you are about to become the 46th President of the United States and what you say has greater impact then you may be accustomed to. 

 As Capital Police Officer Brian D. Sicknick lay in the hospital fighting to live, a fight he tragically lost a few hours later, President-Elect Biden referenced his being contacted by a granddaughter who is in college. He said that his granddaughter had contacted him regarding what had occurred at the Capital and National Guard deployment during a BLM protest last summer, he then made the statement “no one can tell me that if had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday there wouldn’t have been, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently then the mob of thugs that stormed the Capital.” The implication was blatantly apparent, the way D.C. law enforcement responds to groups “protesting” in the nation’s capital is racist, this includes the Capital Police and Officer Sicknick! 

 Mr. President-Elect, as you criticize and condemn President Trump for his words, reminding him that words have consequences and the consequences of his words were to enrage the people attending his rally last Wednesday into a mob, you need to remember that because of your position your words have consequences as well. You chose to ignore facts regarding the summer protests that prompted the deployment of troops such as treats to attack and destroy monuments and government facilities in Washington, D.C. Instead, you claimed that those that attacked the Capital would have been treated differently if they were black or participating in a BLM protest. In doing so you ignored the fact that over fifty (50) law enforcement officers sustained injuries, some critical and in the case of Officer Sicknick they were fatal. You chose to ignore the fact that those injuries to law enforcement occurred protecting the Capital, protecting your former colleagues and our Country’s Line of Succession because both Vice President Pence and Speaker of the House of Representatives Pelosi were in the Capital. You also ignored the fact that one of those law enforcement officers used deadly force and now must live with the fact that he took a human life while protecting the Capital and you ignored the other lives lost at the Capital that day. 

 Some may argue that this was not what the President-Elect meant by his words; however, when you look at the comments Vice-President Harris made, as well as comments that both have made over the past year, there is no doubt about the meaning and intent of President-Elect Biden’s comments. During my law enforcement career I have had a lot of things said about me, about my chosen way of serving my community, so it’s not what was said by itself that angers me. What angers me is that this is a time for all to put aside our political differences and come together as one nation and heal. President-Elect Biden has said numerous times since the November election that it is time for us to come together as a nation and heal, that he and his administration want to be the catalyst for bringing this country back together! His comments did nothing but add to that divide If you don’t agree with me just look at the reaction since Thursday, while many have condemned President-Elect Biden’s comments many have agreed with those comments thus increasing the divide and making it more difficult to heal. 

 Another concern I have about President-Elect Biden’s comments Thursday afternoon is that they made him look like a hypocrite. A hypocrite because he has repeatedly been critical of law enforcement and accused officers of judging African Americans and other minorities by their appearance without or before gathering facts. On Thursday he did the exact same thing he has accused law enforcement of doing, President-Elect Biden made a judgement, an accusation without (or ignoring) the facts known so far for political purposes! If the President-Elect is sincere in wanting this nation to heal, sincere about being President for all Americans, that has to include law enforcement and he can not practice a policy of Do as I say not as I do! 

 Come noon on January 20th, when Joe Biden raises his right hand and places his left on a bible and repeats the words “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” (Article II Section 1) he will be my President, our President. A part of preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States must include a person being innocent until proven guilty. What President Biden says will have a greater impact, greater consequences than anything he has ever said before during his political career! 

 Country must come before politics and a President needs to be a leader and put the country before politics. In order to be successful a President needs to remember that his or her words have consequences and sometimes the hardest thing to do is to make comments based on the facts instead of emotions or to gain some political advantage. 

 Instead of ending this the way I normally end my posts I will just say;

 May God bless and protect the United States of America and give us the strength to heal and come together as one nation! May God bless and comfort the family of Capital Police Officer Brian Sicknick and the other families that lost a loved one.

People Need to Make Up Their Minds!

On Wednesday of this week there was a rally in Washington, D.C. which ended with people going to the Capital and rioting, attacking the Capital and breaching the Congressional Chambers. 

 Since then, people are claiming that the police response was based on racism, they have posted cartoons showing police spraying chemical agents on a peaceful protester during last summer’s protests and the next frame depicts an officer running away from a rioter at the Capital. Others have posted a picture that on the left shows National Guard troops surrounding the Capital last summer in preparation for BLM protests, on the right side it shows people climbing up the side of the Capital this past Wednesday and the caption claims that the differences were because of racism. The differences in law enforcement response are being misrepresented in order to anger people and attempt to show systemic racism in law enforcement, however, this will make it more difficult for those wanting change to implement any needed changes.

 As for the cartoon I referenced, it depicts that chemical agents were not used during the riot at the Capital because the rioters were Trump supporters while chemical agents were used on BLM protesters over the summer wanting changes in law enforcement and the judicial system. The creator of the cartoon and those that are sharing it in support of the belief that racism was the reason for the police response, or lack of response at the Capital are not being honest. Chemical agents were used during the attack on the Capital, there is video of chemical agents being used inside the Capital in an attempt to stop the mob advance to interior areas of the Capital, chemical agents created a heavy fog inside and some of the mob were wearing gas masks. There are also videos showing officers outside deploying chemical agents, officers were using weapons similar to paint ball rifles to deploy balls of chemical agents in an attempt to stop the mob advance on the Capital. Other videos show officers with those weapons also responding to the interior of the Capital to assist in retaking control and protecting members of Congress. Despite many videos on social media showing the use of chemical agents by police in an attempt to repel the attack many, including the cartoonist, claim that no such chemical agents were deployed/ used. 

 As for the photo which shows troops around the Capital during the summer and rioters climbing up the side of the Capital on Wednesday is being used to claim that racism was the reason for the difference in the response. This ignores the outrage and wide criticism of the decision to deploy troops to protect the Capital last summer. The general public, civic leaders, government officials and members of the media were critical and said that this deployment shouldn’t have happened. Did that criticism play a part in the Capital Police not requesting assistance from the National Guard in advance of the expected demonstration? At this point it is not known and an investigation into the police response and apparent lack of preparation will determine this, however, it shows that when it comes to law enforcement people need to make up their minds what they want! 

 People need to make up their minds as to what they want from their law enforcement, do they want a law enforcement agency that listens to their citizens concerns and criticisms, implementing changes or do they want a law enforcement agency that just ignores concerns and choose not to make changes where needed? If you want a responsive law enforcement agency that listens to citizens concerns, an agency that takes corrective actions when deficiencies are noted then people need to stop using those changes to claim it is a sign of racism! If changes are made and then a problem occurs in the future; like the deployment (or non-deployment) of National Guard at the Capital, or law enforcement dressed on protective helmets and other equipment people need to work with law enforcement to adjust the policies or response to prevent deficiencies from reoccurring.

 Law enforcement agencies want the communities they serve to have confidence in their agency and how they respond to incidents. They are open and responsive to criticism and adjust policies and operations to be responsive to the community and their criticisms. People demand and deserve a law enforcement agency that is fair and impartial in its enforcement of laws, however that comes with a price! That price is citizens being objective in it’s judging law enforcement and so far, that is not happening in regard to what happened this week in Washington, D.C.

 If you believe that a response was too aggressive, like using troops to protect the Capital last summer and demand that a less aggressive or intimidating response be used in the future, that change should recognized as a response to demands for change. If a law enforcement agency responds to criticism and modifies its preparation for and response to incidents like a demonstration that change should be evaluated to improve responses to future events, not used to claim the change was racist! Ultimately no one benefits, not the community, not the law enforcement, no one! 

 Change can be difficult at times but can be successful when evaluated and judged impartially, not by demanding change and then complaining about that change after it occurs! As I said people need to make up their minds about what they want, a law enforcement agency that is responsive to the citizens they serve or a law enforcement agency that ignores its citizens? Do you want an agency that is flexible and responsive or inflexible and ignores criticisms? 

 That’s My Opinion, What’s Yours