“A cop got shot at Wawa. Prayers to the shooter, I hope he gets away”
This is a direct quote from a twitter user and there are many more tweets, comments and statuses just like it. Some of you may be flat out disgusted by these words and others may symapthize. The first Amendment is what gives us the right to say what we think and feel and every citizen deserves to exercise this right. Our experiences in life differ from person to person so all opinions are relevant. However, laughing at death and praying for a murderer’s escape absolutely baffles me. I will never understand how people can jump so quickly to defend a person’s actions without knowing the facts.
All that was released at the time I saw most of the anti-police, “glad he’s dead”, posts was that an officer had asked an individual to exit his vehicle and once the man did, he pushed the cop and began to shoot at the officer. The cop did not have his weapon pulled on the man and yet the man opened fire on the officer and even after the officer was down, proceeded to shoot him again. How can anyone applaud that?
Many of the people who commented in support of the suspect’s actions were minorities and/or people who have had a brush with the law in the past. This sheds a light into the minds of those who are anti-police. Many of those who are against law enforcement have either had bad encounters with police in the past due to their own crimes or may have been subjected to discrimination or prejudice by an officer. Again, I believe that some police do, in fact, profile and discriminate against minorities. It happens everywhere and we hear about it all of the time. It’s no wonder many minorities carry a lot of fear when they have to encounter law enforcement. Even though I have not experienced this fear, I can honestly say that I can see why someone else would. People have the right to feel fear about anything and everything. How you handle that fear is what determines whether you are right or wrong.
A man who fears police has every right to feel that way but he does not have the right to shoot an officer for performing his duty correctly.
A police officer has every right to fear an individual they encounter on the job but he does not have the right to exercise police brutality based on that fear.
Anit-police and anti-police brutality are completely different.
I am a white, middle class female with a mother in law enforcement. Yes, I have encountered police in the past. No, I have never had a bad experience with an officer. However, I firmly believe that police brutality exists just like officers who protect and serve their communities do.
Corporal Stephen Ballard was a member of Troop 2 for the Delaware State Police. He was 32 years old with a wife, kids and a respectable job. However, his life was taken from him earlier this week when he noticed a “suspicious” vehicle parked at a local Wawa. He spoke with the occupants in the vehicle and when he asked that one man exit the vehicle, there was a struggle. The suspect pushed the police officer, giving himself room to pull a gun from his waistband and shoot the officer. The officer tried to find cover but the shooter persued. Ballard was face down in a pool of blood when the suspect, a 26 year old man by the name of Burgon Sealy Jr, fired upon the fallen officer again before fleeing the scene.
Burgon Sealy Jr. was a black male, 26 years of age with a previous arrest in Florida for gun and drug charges. Corporal Ballard was a 32 year old black male with only eight years of service under his belt. Sealy may have felt a fear of police due to his race or due to the firearm in his waistband. The other person who was with Sealy in the car during the shooting was arrested without incident and it was later discovered that Sealy had “no known motive” for killing the officer.
My mother, as stated before, is a probation officer for the state of Delaware. In her 20 years as a P.O, she has never discharged her weapon and she’s proud of that. Although she isn’t the one called to the scene of a crime, her job is still considered risky ebough for her to have to wear a vest and carry a gun. Her job is still risky enough that I still worry about her when she gets called out in the middle of the night for work. My mom gets called out when there is a problem and sometimes they’re as minor as a defective ankle bracelet and other times someone broke probation and is on the run.
Either way, I don’t get to find out what it is until she comes home and what if, one day, someone decides to attack my mom because she has a badge? What if someone, someday, decides that my mom doesn’t get to come home? I can vouch for her all I want, but those who attack law enforcement based on fear or hate don’t care about her as a person, wife, mother or daughter. They just see a badge and that is all Corporal Ballard was seen as. This terrifies me and it should scare you too. If there are people who would kill someone who is supposed to be a respected form of authority in society, what does that mean for a civillian?
I can understand why someone fears police officers or has a general distaste for them but I cannot understand hating them entirely. The phrase “not all cops are bad” is cliche but it is absolutey, 100% true. If you are one of those people who considers themselves “anti-police”, I have this to say to you:
I hope that one day, when you’re in trouble, that you call the police for help.
I hope that they show up as quickly as possible.
I hope they protect you and handle the situation carefully and correctly.
And I hope you see that you’re wrong.