Police Rage Has Gone Too Far

Even before a murderer walked up to a police cruiser in New York City and enacted “revenge” for Eric Garner and Michael Brown, it was clear that America – particularly those on the left – had lost all perspective. Suddenly, the controversial killings of these two black men were the only things that happened in 2014. Police just sat home the rest of the year, presumably. In fact, they probably concocted a scheme through social media on how they would use this year to finally pull the mask of civility back and show themselves as the racist killers they always were.

Or, you know, they were protecting the very citizens who now march against them. Imagine what might happen if the police really did take the year off. How would the American citizenry behave in the absence of law enforcement? Why, we need only look to Ferguson on the night of the grand jury’s announcement. Hampered by months of criticism about how they responded to protests immediately following the Michael Brown shooting, the St. Louis cops stood in the background. The National Guard stood in repose. And guess what? The idiots in the community ravaged the town, burning down buildings and unleashing violence on a city that could least afford it.

And what was the media’s response? To again criticize the police! They didn’t do enough, said many an analyst. They merely stood there while a few instigators ran amok. This was just more evidence that police didn’t care about minorities. It seems that no matter what they do, the police will now be subject to second guessing from people who have never been within spitting distance of a violent crime.

Let’s take a moment to put away the “I can’t breathe” signs and the “Hands up, don’t shoot” signs and the “black lives matter” signs and take a look at the facts. You remember facts, right? They mattered once upon a time, back when journalists were more concerned about telling the truth than crusading for a cause. Those facts show us:

Michael Brown did not have his hands up in surrender.
Michael Brown was not peaceful, as demonstrated by the video of his strongarm robbery.
Michael Brown attacked Officer Darren Wilson.
Eric Garner resisted arrest.
Eric Garner was not put in an illegal chokehold.
Garner’s death was a tragedy, but there is zero evidence that his arrest was motivated by racism.
Blacks shoot at police 700% more often than whites.
NYPD shootings have resulted in 179 deaths in the last 15 years. That’s out of 75 million calls.
Blacks made up 52.5% of homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, according to the Department of Justice. Blacks make up – at most – 14.2% of the population.

This isn’t about demonizing minorities. It’s about demonstrating that black Americans need and deserve police protection that isn’t handcuffed by unwarranted charges of racism. Yes, we should always be vigilant against cops who abuse their power. But we should not let two controversial cases erase the thin blue line that stands between millions of law-abiding Americans and chaos.