(Originally published on NewsMax.)
Hundreds of grateful citizens gathered for candlelight vigil for murdered police officer Gonzalo Carrasco, Jr. recently. They didn’t riot. They didn’t shout angrily.
They remembered and honored the sacrifice of a young man who had tried to help them. Dozens of police cars formed a line with the emergency lights flashing to remember their fallen comrade.
Absent were the civil rights leader decrying the violence perpetrated against a person of color. Missing were the national politicians who wanted to be seen as caring for ordinary citizen who was taken too soon by violence.
They chose to make their presence known at the memorial service for Tyre Nichols. While his death is a tragedy, so was Carrasco’s and Deputy Sheriff Darnell Calhoun and Chief of Police Justin McIntire. All of whom are police officers who were shot and killed in January of this year because they were trying to help citizens.
In Carrasco’s case, he was ambushed. A homeowner flagged down the officer and said there was a suspicious man on her property. Carrasco went to investigate, and the man shot him several times. Carrasco did not even have a chance to return fire. The man then fled the scene.
Carrasco was rushed to the hospital where he later died.
Multiple law enforcement agencies searched for the suspect, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office found him a short time later with the weapon a short distance away. The suspect was a felon on probation. He was charged with murder, being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition, and probation violation.
What about the hundreds of citizens who are murdered in cities where these activists and politicians are from?
In Washington, D.C., six people were murdered in the first week of this year. At least one of the murders happened not too far from Vice President Kamala Harris’s home. Did she attend that funeral or any of the funerals of the dead people in Washington? No, but she went to Memphis to show her support for Nichols.
During a recent press conference, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked why no one from the White House contacted McIntire’s family after he was shot and killed in Pittsburgh on Jan. 3.
“The event calls into question how the Biden White House goes about deciding which atrocities, which tragedies merit high-level attention from the president or vice president. So, in addition to Nichols’ funeral, he called the parents of [Buffalo Bills cornerback] Damar Hamlin, an injured NFL player,” Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen said.
“I checked the White House website just before coming into the briefing room today, and I see no indication that the chief executive at any time reached out to the family of Justin McIntire, who was the police chief of Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, was shot to death in the line of duty, a father of four. Why not?”
Jean-Pierre defended her boss, saying “You’ve named one family in particular, I understand why you’re naming that family in particular, but there’s been many families that he has called to offer up his condolences and offer up his help and assistance in any way.”
While that is undoubtedly true, how many have been the families of law enforcement officers killed while protecting others? And, as the vice president demonstrated, when they attend a funeral, how often is it for a law enforcement officer as opposed to an event that aims to make policing harder and may lead to more police death?
Actions speak louder than words, and this administration’s actions and words show they don’t honor or respect police.
Michael Letts is the Founder and CEO of In-Vest USA, a national grassroots nonprofit organization helping to re-fund police by contributing thousands of bulletproof vests for police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience. Read More Michael Letts reports — Here.
