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What Happened To “Back The Blue”?

One hundred and thirty eight police officers were injured on January 6, 2021, while trying to protect the U.S. Capitol. They were attacked by a mob wielding baseball bats, flagpoles, fire extinguishers, pepper spray, bear spray, and in some cases, the officers’ own weapons.

Following the attack, Republican lawmakers, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Ted Cruz, laid the blame squarely at the feet of Donald Trump. They called the attempt to overturn the results of the election, “terrorism”.

Most of us watched the events of that terrible day on television. We saw with our own eyes barricades being toppled, doors and windows broken and breached, Trump flags tossed like javelins, the American flag used to knock down and pummel officers. An estimated 1200 protesters made it inside the Capitol building. They proceeded to hunt down elected officials, invading offices and chambers, calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be handed over to them, and chanting, “Hang Mike Pence.” They left a trail of destruction that included human excrement smeared on the walls, and property damage totaling almost 3 million dollars.

Since that day, Donald Trump has tried to rewrite history, to tell us we didn’t see what we saw. He has described the group inside the building as everyday “tourists” and called the day a “love fest”. He has said they were “patriots,” unfairly charged and prosecuted who became “political prisoners” and “hostages.” And now he has pardoned almost 1500 of them… No exceptions. No difference between lesser crimes and serious bodily injury. Take for example David Nicholas Dempsey of Van Nuys, CA, found guilty of attacking police with flag poles and pepper spray, and then stomping on their heads as they lay on the ground. Sentenced to 20 years, now free…

Michael Fanone, a 43 year old Capitol police officer, was defending the Capitol grounds when he was shoved down a flight of steps and pushed into the crowd. There he was beaten unconscious and then shocked with his own taser, causing him to have a heart attack. He’s a registered Republican who voted for Trump in 2016. He now says he feels betrayed by his own country, by people who elected Trump again despite everything he has done. And the attacks on Fanone didn’t stop after January 6th. He has been targeted for speaking out about his experiences. His life has been repeatedly threatened. His mother has been “swatted” and hit with a bag of feces while out raking her lawn.

Is this what we have to look forward to for the next four years? An erosion of the rule of law, not to mention basic decency? What happened to “Back the Blue”?

Trump claims to be the “law and order president.” The majority of people in Chautauqua County voted for him, including those in my own family who are members of law enforcement. They seem all too willing to deny reality and to accept altered versions of events put forth by a convicted felon determined to put himself above all else.

Rachel Brown,

Greenhurst

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