“We will do everything in our power to protect and serve our fearless law enforcement officers and their families as well as you protect and serve us”, she said.
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Lynch and Biden’s visit underscores the Obama administration’s commitment to police safety. “It matters who they were, and it matters who we are as a country”. Days before he was shot to death, Jackson posted a message on Facebook about the difficulties of being both a black man and a police officer in the tumultuous aftermath of Sterling’s shooting. Gov. Edwards’ office says relatives of the slain officers will also speak during the service.
“Loss is loss is loss”, he said. He spoke of how he lost his two children and first wife.
“I don’t know you, but boy I do know you”. At the heart of almost two weeks of a community working to cope with tremendous loss are messages of healing, hope and peace. He then told their widows that they belong to a nationwide “fraternity” for the families of fallen heroes.
“It’s an uncommon fraternity”, he told them, “because your husbands were uncommon men”.
Sounding tired at times, Biden bemoaned the frequency of such national tragedies.
“The only thing stronger for the red white and blue was his love for us”, said Deisha Gerald.
He, like many black officers, knows firsthand that police often subject black men of all ages to stereotypical racial profiling. He was just out to kill.
“Seeing his 4-month-old son there, that really touched me”, Chavez said. “My mind would not allow me to wrap my thoughts around what my heart was already telling me”, said Garafola. “They ended up praying together because loss is loss is loss”. In May, when asked about the possibility that police departments might be pulling back on enforcement efforts, FBI Director James Comey referred to the “viral video effect” – the idea that officers fear a backlash if they were to be involved in a hostile encounter that was caught on camera.
Also honored during the service were the three officers who were wounded during the attack. Still, he said police detained them for several hours. “You actually got to know the neighborhood. Being a cop isn’t just what you do, it’s who you are, it’s stamped in your DNA and thank god for the rest of us”. “We talk about how law enforcement is … nearly a brotherhood”.
“You didn’t look at him as just an object”.
The same was true for communities, Biden said.
“We’ve got to start seeing one another again”, Biden implored.
In response, Louisiana State Police officials said they could not address the specifics of the investigation.
Baton Rouge’s open data portal provides information on more than 27,000 narcotics offenses from January 2011 to the present, and a review of those showed a clear change after Sterling was shot.
Asher says the homicide rate also increased during the same time period, which raises the question as to what will happen in Baton Rouge. Instead of giving Alexander medicine, police called EMT’s who affirmed that he did in fact need medication. He had to be taken to Baton Rouge General Hospital. Why not a united Louisiana?
“We have to uproot hate and violence and replace it with peace and love”.
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Police officers in Northport, AL are in mourning too.
