How Tolerant Is The Left?

Liberals and Leftist tout themselves as being the champions for open mindedness. I will preface that with saying there is a difference in my opinion between the classical liberal and the neo-liberal we typically see today.

My distinction being, the classical liberal I see as a person challenging structural/authoritarian norms with a live and let live mindset. Emphasis on arts and performances, inclusive of all. I have more in common with this definition than the next. I just believe this is naïve to think everyone can exist in this manner without certain structures (i.e. a strong military and law enforcement/legal structure) within society to safeguard the community. They are at the very least more free thinking.

The Neo-Liberal I see now as a Marxist movement within our Country, whether every participant realizes it or not they are furthering a Marxist agenda. They operate in a strong-arm mindset at all times. If you disagree with them there is an immediate call to arms, no tactic off the table. They target careers through pressure on the employer, or if you are self-employed through smear campaigns on your business.

So while I have given away my true opinion of the left already, I will breakdown just how intolerant we have become in society. I was inspired to write this article after receiving a private message from a lady in California.

Even though I have never met her I still felt true concern for her after reading what she has gone through. With her permission, this is a copy of the emailed transaction she had with a Neo-Liberal employer-

Employer-

“Hello I see that you are looking for a place to live in exchange for managing property. I do have a possible solution that we might be able to offer subsidized rent in exchange for 3 days a week of work. I would like to know who we are considering. I kindly ask that you send me your social media information. If you don’t have a page I would be shocked. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.”


Her Response-

“Thank you so much for the response. I have been desperately looking for housing for a very long time. I would definitely accept paying partial rent and work 3 or even 4 days a week to have a place to live. This would be a blessing for me since I’ve been sleeping in my car on and off for over 3 years. Twitter:@****** (intentionally withheld to protect her identity) Thank you again for responding to my ad. D*****(intentionally withheld to protect her identity)”

Employer-


“Hi D*****, After reading your Twitter account and your posts I will not consider helping you with housing. I am shocked that a person of color, African American would support racist Trump. You are truly an embarrassment to the all minorities. You should be homeless. Why aren’t the republicans helping an uncle Tom slave mentality person like you? Your nose is so far up their asses that’s where you should get help. You are no different from that other Uncle Tom Candace Owens. MAGA right Make America White Again and Negros like you are too stupid to see that Trump’s plan has nothing to do with helping minorities especially black Americans. Look around you stupid idiot. You are homeless and these MAGA hat wearing racist assholes don’t give a damn that you are a black Trump loving homeless fool. You support Trump you should be homeless. Bella”

***

As terrible as this would still be if it was a singularity, this is not a one off; in fact this has become standard practice. This lady, this patriot, has harmed no one by speaking her mind. The side that proclaims themselves as champions for women and People of Color(POC), routinely attack those very same people they lie about representing.

Is this not the ultimate racism in our Country? If you are born of a certain gender or race than you have no right to deviate from a pre-ordained path the Left has for you? In that response the employer attacked both the lady who reached out to me, and Candace Owens. Both POC and female.

As I have written before, I hate bringing a person’s race or gender up as talking points, but to drive home the point I have done so. I would have felt the same concern for anyone regardless of the gender or race. She was not judged on her ability to perform in the job she was applying for, nor did she bring politics into it.

She was told as a condition of her employment to turn over her social media account. By her twitter handle it would be impossible to link her to her employer, nor does she post derogatory content as I have seen her social media account.

This does not matter. She had become the enemy, and now target of “Tolerant Left”. Imagine for a moment if she had been an Obama Supporter, and a Conservative employer made those statements. Do you think the employer would still have a job?

In this past week we have seen the Washington Post settle it’s $250,000,000 lawsuit with Nick Sandmann. This case stemmed from the 2019 confrontation with Nathan Phillips and Nick Sandmann. Phillips, a native American, and Sandmann, a white Covington teen, had a brief encounter in Washington D.C. that was captured on video.

The brief video was played for days by both the Main Stream Media(MSM), and circulated in a viral social media smear campaign. At the time truth did not matter, thorough investigative journalism did not matter. Sandmann was deemed the enemy and people were willing to end a teen’s professional life before it had begun.

Why? Because he represented an opposing idea to the “Tolerant Left”. This is apparently the ultimate crime in society that will get you MSM coverage and public shaming and death threats. Child rapist do not receive this level of condemnation.

But make no mistake, this is a one-way street. Here is Nick Cannon’s statement on race-

“When you have a person that has the lack of pigment, the lack of melanin, that they know that they will be annihilated,” he said. “So, therefore, however they got the power, they have the lack of compassion. Melanin comes with compassion, melanin comes with soul. We call it soul. Soul brothers and sisters. That’s the melanin that connects us. So the people that don’t have it, and I’m going to say this carefully, are a little less.”

If the roles were reversed and a prominent member of society were to say the same derogatory statements referencing POC it would be headline news for the MSM. I would agree as well; spreading information degrading a race has no place in society. “They lack compassion” and “They are a little less” fuels hate when we should be working towards unity.

Justin Kucera was a teacher in the Walled Lake School District in Michigan. On July 6th, 2020 he tweeted “I am done being silent, @realdonaldtrump is our President, don’t @ me”. For a simple tweet he was fired after a social media blitzkrieg was launched against him.

Thomas Bosco is the owner and operator of Indian Road Café in Upper Manhatten. What is his crime? On a MSNBC interview he stated he voted for President Donald Trump in 2016, and may do so in the future. This is based on his belief of “small government, big community”. He too has found himself in the crosshairs of the “Tolerant Left”.

No discussion on whether the policies of the current administration has benefitted him or his employees. There is no room for discussion once you are a target.

I could continue with case after case from ordinary Americans just trying to live their life, to prominent figures, but my point has been made.

Thirteen(13) teachers have been arrested in Portland, Oregon for their participation with ANTIFA during the riots this summer. This goes far beyond a simple tweet showing a political inclination (and accurate statement). Is there a mass social media campaign to have them removed?

Here is a tweet-

Is there a massive call to identify her and be publicly shamed, or is it considered freedom of speech? I actually would agree this is freedom of speech. With the above post, the teachers being arrested, and Nick Cannon we can all agree this goes well beyond what the others stated, yet there is a clear double standard.

Nick Cannon can say whatever he wants on his own Podcast. “Danielle” can post whatever she wants. While I strongly disagree with any racially inflammatory speech, that is freedom of speech. While this is not a First Amendment issue, as it is not the Government censoring us, it should be an idea we take to heart.

Freedom of speech would not need to be protected if everyone agreed with each other, or everyone spoke “nicely”. Why would we need to protect it, everyone agrees? We need to stop this mob mentality. It is not the Government destroying our Freedom at the present, it is our own society.

Forcing a person to turn over their social media, and then penalizing them for not agreeing with you is completely unacceptable. Not even just penalizing them but verbally attacking them. This is not the future I want for our Country.

I interact on almost a daily basis with people of opposing viewpoints. Where is the old school mentality of live and let live. I would love for everyone to see the world the same way I do, but I know that is not possible.

 I will try and persuade people in an inclusive manner; I truly believe if everyone saw the world from a conservative perspective they would be happier. That in turn would bring us back on track to remaining the greatest society in history.

We are writing our history now. We are molding the world for our children. Are we going to turn it over to them in a better condition than we received it in? At the current pace we are on I feel we are failing at this task. We are teaching our children to violently shut down opposing thought.

Truth is what it is. If someone is wrong it will sort itself out, violently shutting them down leads to suppression of free-thinkers. We are harkening an era of totalitarianism, driven by mob hysteria, which will certainly lead to human rights violations. History as our compass.

When looking back through history people will read of what we do now. Let them read that we strove towards freedom and respect of our fellow citizens.

So how tolerant is the left? Very tolerant of their own.

Media Bias in America

Ending 2019 and early 2020, my home State of Virginia was thrown into a very contentious period, centered on Firearms Rights. During this time wide sweeping un-Constitutional laws were proposed at the State level.

On January 20th, 2020 a massive rally was planned at the State’s Capital in Richmond, in righteous protest to these overreaches of power. Immediately the Main Stream Media (MSM) began calling it an “Armed Insurrection”, calls for National Guard began and the State’s Governor Ralph Northam declared a State of Emergency.

You might remember our Governor better from his self-proclaimed “Coonman” nickname and “Blackface” debacle.

Despite all the MSM outrage the rally went down in history as one of the most peaceful signs of Patriotism in generations. Images of a very diverse community of people picking up their trash at the conclusion only circulated by alternative sources.

MSM lines still showing their bias begrudgingly had to admit the peacefulness-

“Virginia pro-gun rally: Despite anger, threats of insurrection, massive rally is carried out peacefully outside state Capitol” – Washington Post

“Pro-gun rally by thousands in Virginia ends peacefully” – Politico

“Gun control bills passed Virginia despite show of force from opponents” – ABC News

Now fast forward to today. Absolute violence rages across our major cities in America. Sure there are a great many that are peaceful, but make no mistake the images of burning buildings, graffiti, burning cars, business owners killed and injured are permanently etched into our minds.

How is this being reported in the MSM? Activist are “Righteously outraged” at injustice. The media downplaying the violence and providing cover for the brutality does not go unnoticed. Calls for the National Guard they so desperately wanted for 2A Patriots are now met with outrage.

Seattle has six square blocks that have been taken over, declared as a “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone”, or CHAZ.

Pictured below is Raz Simone, an individual desperately trying to make himself relevant as the face of this actual insurrection.

 

 

I first found this image in an alternative news source and had not saved it. At the point I decided to write this I could not recall which site I had seen it in. I then quickly found open source searches had buried this image. It took searching for a period of time to recover it.

The MSM never once reported on the firearm, as they would term “Assault Rifle” if anyone on the Conservative end was utilizing it.

Here you have violence, reports of extortion, robberies, “Stop and Frisk” methods being used, and borders being established by this armed individual. Yet the “Most Trusted News Source” and the rest of the MSM haven’t found the time to stand by their previous mantra of “Guns bad, borders bad, etc.”.

Believe it or not, if they stood by their false morals I would actually have respect for them. If they said regardless of which side of the isle you are on, we are anti-gun I would respect them. I would not agree, but respect them for it, but this guy is pushing their agenda so he can do no wrong.

I am in no way endorsing Bernie Sanders, but I do respect the fact he for the most part has stood for what he believes in, and has let it known what his intentions are. I will oppose him at all levels to ensure we are never a Socialist or Communist State, but for the most part he is open. Never forget he attacked millionaires until he was a millionaire.

I have seen reports coming out of Atlanta from the MSM attempting to say “right wing agitators dressed as ANTIFA” were responsible for the attack on the CNN headquarters in Atlanta.

How desperate do you have to be to make this claim? We have seen firsthand the peaceful manner in which people on the right make their views known. Anarchy and Chaos are the calling cards of the left, own it.

It is no wonder the #FakeNews is such a popular slogan. Unfortunately, there are still millions of Americans that refuse to acknowledge the obvious bias in the media. Imagine for a moment if the peaceful patriots of Virginia who stood up for all American’s rights (regardless of race or gender) in January had shown 1/10th of the violence demonstrated here.

It would have run front page for weeks in an attempt to discredit and attack your rights. It is time for us to open our eyes as a Nation and denounce these establishments as the anti-freedom, anti-American political combatants that they are.

If you stop listening to their intentional divisive rhetoric and look around at your community, the people you know regardless of their race you will quickly see the MSM has not benefitted anyone, only driven a wedge between us.

I say we stop giving these establishment any credibility, financially supporting them through views, and start #defundMSM.

Defunding The Police

There seems to be a growing movement in America to “Defund the Police”. On face value the #Defundpolice immediately causes me to want to scroll past, but as I make it a point to challenge my own view points as a mental obstacle course, I will read the material.

To this point, I do this with most topics, to include things that go against what I know to be true, like the “flat earth theory”. Seldom does it change my opinion but I keep an open mind, so in this article I will pursue this topic. As a reminder change is not always bad.

I have seen a wide range of what this means, and it does not appear to have a cohesive argument. This raises serious red flags for me, but nevertheless I continue.

On the mild end we have arguments for-

*Reduced Police funding

*Redistribution of Govt. spending

*Police should be focused on crimes and criminals

*Police are not mental health workers

*Police are not medical professionals

*Police not education specialist

*Investing in our communities

*Funding our schools

*Funding our Hospitals

*Funding our infrastructure

These are all taken from post I have seen that are not seeking to attack Law Enforcement, but use the #defundthepolice. I will make an attempt to go through the list.

“Reduced Police Funding”. Obviously this has to be part of their argument, but have you looked through a Police Departments budget? In most cases Police Departments are forced to do more with less. What this results in is reduced training for officers.

If you are talking salaries, you will reduce the number of qualified candidates applying for the position. That is 100% a fact. I do not think that would be a wise strategy.

 I think if we take this option of reduced spending the person making the argument needs to have a clear understanding of a Police Departments budget and spending.

If there is excessive spending, the libertarian in me would agree with you, in fact that should be applied to all areas of Government. Not at the expense of lack of training and salaries effecting potential applicants.

“Redistribution of Govt. spending”. This goes along with my point above. Just show me where the excess is in the Police Department, where it is going, and how it will have a greater impact. In my experience while more demands have been placed on Law Enforcement, spending and increases in personnel have not reflected this increased demand.

“Police should be focused on crimes and criminals”. I am also going to address the next topic, “Police are not mental health workers” along with this.

I agree with the fact Police are more than ever asked to wear numerous different hats. Police in general excel at this. In most domestic arguments I have gone to I tell the couple I am a Band-Aid for a more serious issue that needs to be addressed.

I can de-escalate the situation for the temporary, but I am not a marriage counselor. Do I enjoy going to Domestic Disturbances, Mentally and emotionally distressed calls for service? I can tell you it is not the highlight of my career. What I will tell you is my colleagues do a phenomenal job at stepping into these roles.

If society truly does not want officers going to these events then I will not drag my feet and say absolutely not, saying this is the role of Law Enforcement. I will ask, strike that demand, as a citizen, with the mental health services field growing and becoming a bigger role they be trained and sworn to the U.S. Constitution.

While Law Enforcement comes under a lot of scrutiny for Constitutional rights issues, it seems “civilian” counterparts do not. I know some reading this may say Police do not have a general regard for people’s rights; I have seen Police Officers care more about Constitutional rights than the average citizen.

In fact, when firearm rights become topics in the MSM I see officers become extremely vocal and to the point about their commitment to their oath. Mental Health has an incredible capability of trampling our rights.

For a Police Officer to take a person into custody for a criminal offense it takes probable cause of a crime having been committed. In Virginia the first step in taking a person into custody for Mental Health is an Emergency Custody Order (ECO) based on a person being a danger to himself or others.

A danger to himself. This can come from an Officer’s personal observations, or from a witness’s observations as long as they are willing to be a petitioner for the next step, Temporary Detention Order (TDO). For the vast majority of officers, they take the time to dissect statements and observations from witnesses before risking liability by taking the person into custody.

My concern with the rise of “Red Flag Laws” and people’s feelings on what is a threat to others is, passing the torch on to people not bound by oath can result in an erosion of civil liberties.

“Police are not medical professionals”. I have just seen this in arguments, but it was just that, a single statement. I would like to see what the argument is, I am not just dismissing it.

We do on occasion get dispatched alongside Fire and EMS, and on occasion will be first onscene. I do not understand the negative in having someone who is more highly trained in first aid and CPR onscene who will be relieved by the highly trained Fire and EMS personnel. In most situations seconds count.

“Police are not education specialist”. Again it is the single statement without context or argument. Since Police obviously do not broadly teach classes to the youth, I believe it may be an argument to remove Officers from the schools, School Resource Officers (SRO’s). This is already happening in schools around me.

The officers in the schools do provide a huge benefit as onscene security in the case of an attack. While I was truly appalled at the actions of the SRO assigned to the Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida, the vast majority of SRO’s would give their lives in a heartbeat for our children.

If you want to remove SRO’s I would like to see them replaced with armed security. I have never served in the role as SRO but I do know they provide other services within the school, and actively seek alternatives to enforcement of the law for students. They additionally build a rapport with the students that does build a foundation for a better LE/community relationship in the future.

“Investing in our communities”. We spend a phenomenal amount in our communities as is, but come up with where the money will be spent and how it will be effective.

“Funding our schools”. The County that I work in already provides the school with greater than 50% of the General funds. This is over one billion in spending. I, as a tax payer, would like a breakdown of where that money is already going, and whether we can rework the already massive budget to produce better results. It certainly is not going to the under-paid teachers whose jobs are harder than ever.

“Funding our Hospitals”. The Hospitals in my area are privately funded, but let’s say they aren’t. Knowing several people in the medical field there is incredible waste in the Medical field at the administrator and management level. As a tax payer I would want more oversight on where my money was going, and how it would benefit the community.

“Funding our infrastructure”. Great, we need to take a good look at our aging infrastructure. I think this is a great threat to the stability of our nation; but again show me where the money is going and how it will benefit the infrastructure. I do not want my taxes going to waste in what is already a wasteful sector of government.

These are all very solid talking points as long as you are willing to do some critical thinking. Just arbitrarily throwing hashtags out, but not being willing to meet me intellectually in the middle with ideas is not going to sell me.

We are talking about fundamentally changing a system that has been in the works for generations at this point. A hashtag isn’t good enough.

To that point those that use the hashtag but make the above arguments also argue it doesn’t mean “getting rid of the police”. Ok for you, but you are using the same hashtag that others who absolutely do mean that utilize.

Make no mistake there are people who want to live without police. When everyone is using the same slogan then you cannot distance yourself from it. You are furthering their voice. The city counsel of Minneapolis just voted to abolish their department. Regardless of that one city people across the Nation have in fact been very vocal about abolishing the police entirely.

Throughout history we have hired people to protect our lives and property. This allowed them to invest their time in other pursuits other than facing losses or defending their property at all times. I will not spend too much time here, but if you are of that opinion do you really think crime stops because Police will not be there to submit the statistics.

 Are you willing to take full responsibility for the protection of your life and property? For my libertarian friends do not take this the wrong way as me saying I support a nanny state. On the contrary I think we should all have the ability to defend ourselves, but having people with the task of keeping evil at bay makes for a less chaotic world for all of us.

We also have those who physically cannot defend themselves. Do we leave them to the wolves and say “Sorry, life dealt you a bad hand, good luck though”, or do we want a highly trained group, sworn to the Constitution that is willing to hold the line and say “On my watch you can sleep easy because if it in my power no one and nothing is going to harm you tonight”?

I actually appreciate the conversation, and welcome it. People concerned about their Government is a good thing. Doing this on the premises that police are killers, worse than criminals is not. I have seen a lot of cases brought up, each case unique, and for every case where a mistake was made and tragic loss of life occurred there are too many more to count that did not.

 In a lot of the cases that I have seen circulated when you actually research the events that transpired there are extenuating circumstances behind it that a one liner does not come close to covering. Police officers excel in their communities and go to great lengths to preserve life. The failure rate is incredibly low, but as long as there are mistakes, there is room for improvement.

This is a good conversation to have. People’s focus on the Government’s fiscal responsibility has, over the past few decades, been a dying focus. Good ideas such as “don’t call the police, talk to your neighbor about their loud music”. Great point! I applaud this and encourage everyone to seek mediation rather than confrontation. Just don’t do it by painting Police Officers as the reapers of the community.

If you are not in the camp of ending Law Enforcement, then I say we should be spending more on Police training. Some of the issues brought up during this time can be mitigated through training. If you want and agree with Law Enforcement, taking away their budget will create a greater rise of mistakes.

Finally, if you want to be seriously engaged in this debate go out and talk to the police department. Better yet do a ride-along if your local department allows it. Multiple if you can. Go out and see what it is officers do, and the precision in which they do it. After gaining data for yourself come back and analyze that data from real world experience.

Reading and learning from other people is good don’t get me wrong, but it is only good until you can replace it with your own lived experience. Other people can be misleading so bridge that gap, I think you will find it eye opening. We are talking about making decisions that can have a huge impact on all of our lives, so take the time to do thorough research.

I think for most of us seeing what is going on in Seattle with the six block “CHAZ” is not the vision we want for our Country. That is an area with no Law Enforcement and a good look at the natural evolution of the consequences of a world without Police. Unfortunately, I think we may have more data to pull from in the coming year out of Minneapolis.

For most people seeing the single image with these bullet points they might agree, yeah that seems great. When you really breakdown each topic you can quickly find it is a far more complicated topic than simply hitting a share button and throwing down a hashtag. Please research the topic thoroughly before we make such a huge societal change.

A Police Officer’s Fight Against Racism

I have started this site not because I love to hear myself talk, but because I feel the need to speak out. A 17-year-old me would be shocked to see the person I am today. I started this life very much as an introvert. I have been a Peace Officer since 2007. Prior to that I was in the United States Marines.

I enlisted in the Marines at the age of 17 with my parent’s signature. They signed a month after I turned 17 with the agreement I obtained my high school diploma. There was no argument about it, I had told my parents when I was 13 I would be a Marine. My older brother had come home from the recruiters with all the branches recruiting pamphlets. I saw the Marines and instantly knew I would attain the title.

Up until that point the only other job I had wanted was to be a firefighter. Even before my Uncle had switched careers from being a chemical engineer to Fire/EMS it was the job I wanted to serve in, but I still remember the excitement of going to his firehouse and hearing the wail of the siren. From the beginning of my memory I remember the calling to serve. While it has evolved over time, the mission has stayed the same. A love for others that knows no boundaries.

I met my wife six months into the Marines. Two years later we were married, and pregnant shortly thereafter. My compromise at the end of four years, for family and calling, was Law Enforcement. I still faced danger which at this point I knew I could withstand, but could be there for the wife I loved.

Nothing had changed for me. My desire to protect the innocent and vulnerable had not changed in anyway, only my uniform. I was first hired by the United State Capitol Police in Washington D.C. in 2007, but wanted a more interpersonal connection with the community and transferred to a local department in 2009 within the National Capital Region.

Out of the Academy I received my first choice pick to the District of my choosing. This District had one of the highest call volumes for the Department and is by far the most diverse in terms of community make-up. It covered Hispanic (Guatemalan, Salvadorian, Mexican, etc.), African (Nigerian, Algerian, Somali, Ethiopian, etc.), Arab, Asian (Korean, Vietnamese) White, African American. Literally the biggest mixing pot you can imagine.

This is the Community that I served for the majority of the time I was a patrol officer. During this time, I had several uses of force that had they been videotaped and played on repeat with no context could be manipulated to be perceived in a manner that was derogatory towards a community as a whole. That is certainly not the case, each use of force protected the diverse population I served.

Yet here I am facing in 2020 individuals who regularly throw insults, if not more at me. Would it surprise you to find that what I have found is more minorities have thanked me in the past few weeks, and more insults have come from the “White” community? I certainly do not expect thanks, I just found it to be an interesting observation because at the end of the day I have a scrolling list of names and faces. The majority of these faces are what have been described as “minorities”.

It is funny because this list of people I have served and been there for were not minorities in my mind, but people. Individuals that I had nothing but upmost concern for as I responded to their need regardless of race or gender. I have gone home, my soul absolutely crushed from seeing a “minority” child die well before their age dictates, their mother’s cry never departing my memory.

I have been accused of being racist because of my uniform. I have had two people show deadly force against me in my 13yr career, both “minority” citizens. The first one had already stabbed an individual in a parking lot and had run back to his apartment. His roommate gave permission for us to enter, a squad of us entered. I found him in the last room at the end of the hall. I was close enough to the door I had removed my left hand from my gun to open the door when he threw the door open, knife above his head.

Commands instantly given, and as soon as the knife dropped I engaged. I am sure some of you question why, being feet away from a person who had committed a violent felony and engaged with Police in such a manner, why didn’t you deploy greater force than going hands on. To this day the only thing I can think of is he didn’t break the plane of the door as he threw it open knife in hand. I had an amazing calm I couldn’t forcibly duplicate if I tried as I tackled him and the remainder of my squad assisted in taking him into custody.

I felt incredibly guilty as I went home that night, not because I didn’t use deadly force, but because I felt so calm in the situation I forced my squad into an unknown bedroom with an individual who had already stabbed someone and showed no regard for the commands we gave prior to entry. Unfortunately, I have to mention he was a minority, but this was not a factor for any of us that night.

Scenario 2. I was called for a runaway juvenile who was relatively known to me. As I was responding in, a few blocks away from the dispatched address, I see him. He is riding his bike in the intersection. I roll my window down and call to him by name that we are going home, put your bike in the back of my car. He throws the bike down and takes a defensive stance with me saying no he isn’t.

I put my car in park and step out going towards him. I get within 10 feet of him telling him I am taking him to his mother when he pulls a knife from his waist band and threatens to stab me. I again took him safely into custody. Regretfully I must again mention he was a “minority”. I say this because not once were these people minorities to me, they were the people of the community I served. By everything the Main Stream Media would have told you to this point, I would have launched a volley of rounds into both of them.

These are two clear cut deadly force incidents, where a weapon was displayed against me in an aggressive manner, and both taken into custody. I have numerous other incidents where it took mental resolve to face the fear of the unknown for the betterment of the community regardless of race.

One of the last calls for service I took in 2015 before I left for a specialty unit was a 9-11 hang-up. The call taker reported a female on the line screaming for help, then the line went dead. From the call the complainant (person who placed the call) was a minority/Hispanic, inconsequential to me at the time but unfortunately consequential to the point being made. We searched the area for what felt like an eternity. Finally, my midnight PSA partner (I was on an overlapping evening shift) found an open door in the complex. We made calls inside, finally a male, tatted up came down the stairs covered in blood with a white tank on.

My heart stood still. Too this day I feel guilty about this, for leaving my partner alone, but orders were given for him to get down. My partner on top of him, I asked if he(my partner) was good and he replied yes. In hind sight I would have made sure the handcuffs were tightly secure before I left him alone, but nevertheless my mind was only in one place. The female on the line regardless of her race.

I ran up the stairs, her son, no more than 4yrs old standing there wide eyed, I asked where his mom was, but he was too confused to answer, and I didn’t pause to articulate my concern another way, I pressed on in search of his mom who I thought for sure was murdered or on the brink. My safety not even a factor as I pressed on to find mom, alone with my backup tied up with her child’s father down stairs, her race and my safety not my concern. She was safely taken to the hospital, but again her race or ethnic background not a factor in how I approached the situation. The fact a person had called the police, needing my assistance and was forcibly disconnected my only concern.

These are just a few, so few, of the names and faces of individuals I have scrolling through my head, all of different skin tones and ethnic backgrounds, people who I can look back to and say I was there for. Even if it was an arrest, or in use of force they can, if honest with themselves, look back and say I was fair and honest with them regardless of race.

I have been off patrol since 2015, and while I have stumbled into a cruiser since that time for overtime purposes, have not had to deal with calls for service as my primary mission since. So these are just a few of my examples I had from 2009 to 2015 as the face of the Department on a responder for calls for service. The base and true heart of all Police Departments. The absolute brave Women and Men who put on the uniform day after day have my utmost respect.

I have seen Police Chiefs come out and denounce and proclaim racism in Police Departments. I would challenge those Political combatants to show proof of systemic racism in the Police. If you can, then shame on you for not speaking out and having them removed. The reality is, that is political rhetoric or they would have spoken out, and had those officers removed prior to it becoming a politically charged atmosphere.

Sure you can point to individuals who have made mistakes, I could change this topic into a who’s who of professional mistakes made by all careers, and be confident my profession would not come out on the bottom, but that would solve nothing. The same as a Police Chief shaming other agencies without providing proof.

Those same Police Chiefs have had officers fired under their command for other things (false police report, theft, etc.), but we don’t paint the entire force as such, so why with “Police brutality” and “Racism”.

I put those things in quotation marks not to make anyone reading this feel their opinion does not matter, but rather my personal observation that it is not a systemic issue and rather on individual basis people will make mistakes. The reality is we do have a huge mound to overcome in our society, even if you do not agree with it being a systemic reality, it is a reality for some of us, so we have to find a way to start the dialogue.

From my point of view my policing, and the policing of my fellow officers I have directly been involved with has never been effected by a person’s race or gender, but I recognize that there are individuals who feel that way, and we need to come together as a society.

I have laid open more feelings and thoughts than I feel comfortable with in general. I do so with the utmost concern for everyone in our community. If you feel dejected by the Law Enforcement Community I am not here to solidify that police officers are racist against you as so many Law Enforcement Officials have by wrongfully taken a knee and condemning other agencies. I am here to shed light on one officer who has dedicated his life to an unbreakable care and compassion for the community I serve regardless of your race.

Like I said before I have seen more gratitude from our “minority” community than ever before. Never question whether you have a Police force that would give their all if you ever needed it. I have seen incredible acts of kindness performed by my fellow officers on the community’s behalf.

So to tie up the title of this blog, what do I do to combat racism – I keep doing what I do. At the end of my career regardless of whether I reach retirement I know that I served my community regardless of race, treated them with the highest respect, and have felt true compassion for them throughout my time. That is my fight against racism, being a defender of those who needed it most. This is my story, and the story of so many others who do not get the chance to voice their own.

At the end of the day we don’t need bias confirmation on the things we read, but we do need to challenge ourselves to see other viewpoints. As hard as it is if bias confirmation is all we achieve the battle lines are never moved, and we never come together as a people. While I feel there is nothing more I can do to support our minority community that has felt disenfranchised with our society in my professional occupation, because I personally have never acted out of bias; and the brave women and men surrounding me never have, this is my approach to bridge that gap and show you the human side of the badge.

Never doubt the fact that the vast majority of your officers work tirelessly for the community. When I lay my head down at night I feel no guilt because I see the faces of our community members that I have been there for, and I know when they look back at their interactions with me they too will know I treated them with the highest respect possible for the given interaction we were involved in.

I wish you all well, and if you have read to this point thank you for challenging yourself. I read opposite views points at a higher rate than confirmation bias just for the fact of mental challenge.

“You must always be willing to truly consider evidence that contradicts your beliefs, and admit the possibility that you may be wrong. Intelligence isn’t knowing everything. It is the ability to challenge everything you know.” – Unknown Author.

Gun Control Argument from 2020

SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED! These words were written for a reason. Despite relatively recent SCOTUS decisions re-affirming our individual rights, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the assault on our rights continue. Justice Scalia in his majority opinion wrote the 2A protects the individual’s right to own “commonly used firearms”.

If there is any question that the AR15, AK47, ect are “Commonly used firearm”, SCOTUS prior to DC v. Heller, wrote in 1994 with Staples v. United States that semi-automatic rifles are common. This is all legal discourse for what we know to be true without decades of argument. The 2A was written not to give us the right, but to restrain the Government from infringing on every patriot’s right to the freedom to protect themselves in the manner they see fit.

In the wake of last week’s shooting in Texas it re-affirms that a good person armed saves lives. The horrific damage inflicted at the church, with the loss of two lives, could have been achieved by a knife or vehicle, but limited by the legal use of a firearm, lives were saved from a murderous felon intent on causing death by any means.

Finally, get out and vote every single election. What we are seeing in Virginia could have been avoided had people exercised their right to vote. Our Gov. attempted this legislature prior, but was shot down (pun intended), because he did not have the majority. That should have been our warning, and while Virginia may actually turn out to be a good thing, as there should be Court injunctions filed on these laws. Those injunctions could have more wide spread effects than just Virginia if they re-affirm the 2A’s individual rights, it would have been easier to have voted.

I say that because Virginia may have lost that chance, but Georgia and Kentucky, you are seeing pre-filed bills already. I have no doubt people in my state laughed and said “This is Virginia, it will never happen”. It did, so if you are in Kentucky and Georgia and say the same, pay attention. I love this Country and have now lived in 4 states(Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia). Two of them seeing direct threats to our Freedom.

My concern over this legislation is not because I, or anyone else agreeing with these principles, do not care about our fellow American. We know and understand from history, and continuing events (Venezuela, Chicago, New York, etc), Gun Bans do not result in increased safety, they result in innocent lives lost.

SB64(amendment to illegal paramilitary activity) should be of great concern as well. This, making the training of firearms with another for the purpose of civil disorder or intimidation of others a felony. Make no mistake the revolutionary militias our Country was founded on would have been guilty and charged as Felons under this code section.

The question is why do we need to file this amendment now? I can guarantee if you are training for a terrorist attack on our country it is already a crime. This law is written so vaguely anyone exercising their 2A rights in an open carry event, with a long history of peaceful assembly, could be deemed to “intimidate”, and therefore guilty of a felony. Anyone training in a Militia, which has long been an anti-gun argument wrongfully applied to the 2nd Amendment (the 2A only applies to Militias, not individuals), could be guilty.

I still have faith that we can pull through this, but it will take not only motivation but educating ourselves in the process. God Bless, and for my Marines out there, Semper Fi!

Gun Control Argument From 2018

I was asked yesterday by a friend what my opinion was on gun control and why citizens needed “Assault Rifles”. I actually appreciated the conversation and I was not going to weigh in too heavily on Facebook after this last shooting. I, however, cannot open my feed without seeing idiotic memes from occupy democrats making statements such as “If guns don’t kill people, people kill people, then why do we care if North Korea gets nukes”. So I have decided to put my opinion out here if you care to read.

It for the most part is a cut and paste from the conversation with a few small changes to keep the friend anonymous and an added topic, abortion. Because if guns are not controversial enough than why not turn the heat up… Anyways the format will look like a response because that is what it was, and if you were the friend who asked the question I am not trying to, as the kids say these days, “put you on blast”. I truly appreciated the conversation.

It is also good to remind ourselves of what our constitutional rights are, and why we have them.

The short term solution would certainly be to ban what we have termed “Assault Rifles”, which are really just semi-automatic rifles. A true Assault Rifle must be capable of “Select Fire” which means capable of firing more than one cartridge with a single trigger pull. The use of the term “Assault Rifle” has gained popularity because it makes the ownership of an AR-15 sound much more hostile. But I get that you and I are both talking about the same item so I wont get too far into the weeds on the terms, it does not change the fact an AR-15 is more than capable of being used on a horrific scale.

So taking the short term solution we would ban AR-15’s for being Assault Rifles, but I promise you that will not stop the next shooting and it would most likely utilize another semi-automatic rifle or pistol. The cry would inevitably be made to ban any semi-automatic firearm. So now we have made every semi-automatic firearm illegal and every law abiding citizen has turned theirs in or destroyed them. But the obvious problem is law abiding citizens have never committed mass murder. The same as banning drugs, if a person wants something they will acquire it.

Lets say we were able to remove every firearm we deemed a risk to the general populace, either through totalitarian gun confiscations, everyone doing the legal thing and turning them in, or the criminal’s illegal pre-ban weapons have decayed to the point they are not operational. We still have the issue of a person wanting to commit mass murder.

This is the million-dollar question. We have a person who has made it their life’s mission to cause destruction and heartbreak. 87 people died, 434 injured in Nice France(Truck through a crowd); 168 Killed, 680 injured in Oklahoma City Bombing; 33 dead, 130 injured Kunming Railway Station China(knife attack). These are just a few of the examples of mass attacks made without the use of firearm. The most simplistic being a knife attack which killed more than our recent shooting, in fact almost doubling the number from Florida.

This real issue we have to tackle is changing our current course our society is on. Our second amendment was written for a reason. Our founding fathers were extremely brilliant men and to say they could not forecast greater weapons than a musket is insulting to their memory and fallible in argument as there were weapons in the making at the time to increase the volume of fire. The “Puckle Gun” was one option available which increased the volume of fire if you wanted to fact check. The patent was in 1718 by a James Puckle.

The second amendment was written not to protect hunting rights or gun enthusiast, but it was written to protect the people from their government. While it does not say it in the second amendment I have bought and read the Federalist Papers, in addition to reading quotes from our founding father. It was very evident, blatantly spoken by them that the second amendment was established to be a tool to overthrown and re-establish a government should this one ever turn on its people.

It is not something I wish for, especially as a Government employee who has devoted his adult life to this government, but I serve the constitution of the United States. The same as the forefathers did not see the internet but the first amendment still protects our thoughts and words here, the second amendment protects the devices manufactured today. I would not trade the temporary safety of my children at the expense of their rights and freedom.

Our real issue is in fact morals. It is not a popular topic and I am certainly not a saint, I can however see it. We have de-based our family values. Whether we want to admit it we live in a society that has told everyone do what makes you feel good, there are no consequences. Divorce rates are through the roof and once divorce occurs fathers step away from the children. Mothers now being burdened with raising the children alone work longer hours, or in the mothers that go on welfare have, in a lot of cases, lost motivation to care so their children run around without supervision.

Abortion. I would never cast judgement on anyone who has had an abortion. In fact my heartbreaks for those who have. They are told their life and dreams will be over if they have the child. They are told they have options but are hardly ever told they will have support if they keep the child. Father’s as I stated before walk away from their children and there is no shame. There used to be shame in being called a “Deadbeat Dad” but that is no longer the case. So we tell people it is easier to abort.

We have devalued human life. It slowly eats at the consciousness of us all and everyone know it is a life. We have people crying for trees being cut down because they know it is life as well, but try their hardest to deny the life inside a woman deserves our protection. We desensitized ourselves to the value of life. Like I said, and I truly mean it, I do not judge anyone who has made the decision, I do condemn our society for allowing it to happen.

I have been called to schools, middle schools at that, for kids screaming at their teachers. There is no discipline in the schools anymore. Teachers are afraid to discipline but they cannot function because of some of their children.

We are a culture obsessed with violence. It is everywhere. You can have an assault or a robbery take place, hell in NYC they had an elderly man assaulted and pushed into the tracks and killed. Everyone stops to film but no one offers aid. Why? Because we love violence. Rome was a society who loved violence and lost their morals. Greatest country in the world at that time and brought to its knees.

I don’t care if you believe in the Christian God, Buddha, or a divine spirit but once we removed religion from the schools we did not replace it with anything. At the very least religion teaches morals, and our youth need morals if we are to survive and prosper under a free society.

We have told parents for a while now that they cannot discipline their children. Children need discipline and strong role models, which should be their parents.

What is my solution. It seems simple in theory and complex in execution. Bring back morals and respect in society. In the mean time I would arm teachers. It is a sad state of affairs but Israel has to do it. Allow guns back on school grounds and repeal gun-free zones, increasing the penalties for illegal gun use. There are already increased penalties for most crimes when you add a firearm to it so enforce and increase those penalties. Right now you are only prohibiting “Good Guys” from carrying, people who would stop a shooting in its tracks, long before the police arrive. You cannot legislate absolute safety.

Allow teachers to bring back discipline in the schools, and yes, if they needed to physically touch my child because of his/her actions then use the force necessary to maintain discipline in the classroom.

As for mental health, I have personally had a child screaming at me and his parents he was homicidal, and was refusing to take his medication. His parents called us and refused to take action because he was, “Bi-Polar”. It took a few short words from me in front of his parents for him to realize he could not intimidate or control me by shouting. I was a bandaid for a more serious problem but it showed he could control his actions without the need for sedation. This is one example of many I have found.

I believe if we bring back discipline, morals and respect to our youth mental health services will dramatically decrease. I am not saying schizophrenia, bi-polar, ect are eradicated, but significantly reduced.

Why do I believe this? Because human nature does not change. This is why the forefathers were so insightful on the establishment of this country. They understood human nature. We have had semiautomatics available to the citizen population since at least the 60’s. Why has this now become an issue(School shootings and mental illness on a rampant level). We have not changed, but our environment we are raised in has.

I can go on and on about this topic, and clearly I have!! But the fact is we are an experiment in the working(Constitutional Republic). Contrary to popular belief we are not a true democracy, and the best example I have heard is a democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to eat for dinner. Maybe this wont work, maybe we have too much freedom and human nature will always devour itself if given the opportunity. I hope not and as long as I have breath in my body I will continue to fight for, and speak up for every aspect of our freedom.

I truly want the best for everyone in this country and safe-guarding the freedoms to allow free thought has produced some of the greatest accomplishments man-kind has ever seen. I know I cannot design a space ship that will transport people to mars or any other idea that has yet to be thought of, so my part is safeguarding our society so that those who will do it will not be suppressed. Only in a free society are those things possible, and I am excited to see the limits of humanity!

If we cannot take a good look at our society and realize we have a morality issue than we will continue on the road to failure. Taking away constitutional freedoms will not save anyone, in fact the 2nd amendment will be the first pillar to fall, and once that has occured then the rest will follow and we will be left with a broken house.

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” -Benjamin Franklin