(Originally published in American Thinker.)
Why do some people feel the need to ambush and even kill police officers?
We’ve seen such instances in the past and, sadly, we won’t be seeing them slow down anytime soon.
This past Thursday, a police officer in Minneapolis was “ambushed” by a gunman that he was trying to help. As a result, he was killed in the line of duty. Police quickly responded to the matter, exchanging gunfire with the suspect before killing him and finding a third person dead in the apartment.
The officer was Jamal Mitchell, a father who was previously engaged to be married. He had only been with the department for one and a half years before he was killed in the line of duty. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Mayor Jacob Frey explained, “Today is a devastating day in the city of Minneapolis. What I can tell you is that Officer Mitchell was attempting to assist the individual that shot him — and that it happened very fast and that he ambushed him.”
These officers put their lives on the line to help people regularly, and to see that these people would take such a cowardly action as to ambush and kill them is unfathomable.
Sadly, that’s the way it is in today’s world. The media and other politicians out there will have you absolutely believe that the police “are the bad guys,” so to speak. They’ll bring up the death of George Floyd, scream “defund the police” at the top of their lungs, and push for legislators to put funding into something else. Anything else.
But they’re letting their hatred push them too far. As a result, thousands of police officers have walked away from active duty, either for retirement reasons or simply believing that the effort just isn’t worth it anymore, especially with the growing — and completely unnecessary — level of hatred that is out there.
Some have even committed suicide, including a couple of officers in Chicago who didn’t have any mental health support to speak of. I can’t even begin to stress how vital it is to have mental health support — especially in a job where your life is literally on the line.
I could go off on President Biden here and his inability to keep his promise to “fund the police,” or how his Democratic cronies won’t lift a finger when it comes to taking care of our men and women in blue. But the sad, simple truth is he won’t listen. He’s too worried about his connections with overseas countries and his re-election campaign to actually do a thing for police officers.
Which is just sad. The fact is that a lot of these officers are continue to push forward in the line of duty, despite the hatred and the lack of support by government offices. And how are they rewarded? By people with the completely wrong frame of mind that think an “ambush” is the definitive answer to everything.
There needs to be a better balance in this country. Better mental health support. Fewer initiatives that welcome dangerous migrants into our borders. Anything to indicate that higher-ups actually care about those who are working to save lives on a regular basis. People take them for granted and don’t realize just how many sacrifices they actually make.
We’re losing young, talented, officers to unnecessary bloodshed. The American people can’t ignore this.
My heart goes out to Mitchell, his family and his friends, and the other officers and firefighters that were injured on the scene with non-life-threatening injuries. We’re doing whatever we can at InVest USA to help them out in their time of need.
Something has to change. We have to keep these officers standing tall, not laying them to rest.
As for Minneapolis, InVest USA is already offering to donate a number of Active Shooter Vests to officers in need in this department. We take care of our own here.
Michael Letts is the Founder, President, and CEO of InVest USA, a national grassroots non-profit organization that is helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs. He also has over 30 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, hence his pro-police stance for his brothers and sisters in blue. Those interested in learning more about Letts can visit his official website here.
