Speaking at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, President Trump renewed a call for the death penalty to serve as punishment for those found guilty of murdering a police officer.
The president told those in attendance that America needs an immediate end to “the attacks on our police,” adding “we must end them right now.”
“Criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty,” Trump explained.“Bring it forth.”
Bring it forth indeed.
"We're not going to let bad things happen to our police," President Trump says. "We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty. Bring it forth." pic.twitter.com/Pyfd3ONDHp
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 15, 2018
The comment echoes one he made last year to representatives from the Fraternal Order of Police and repeated through his presidential campaign: “I made a crucial pledge. … I will always have your back — 100 percent.”
Trump’s demand for the death penalty for criminals convicted of killing a police officer dates back 2015, when he said that if elected president he would sign an executive order regarding the ultimate punishment for cop-killers.
“One of the first things I’d do in terms of executive orders, if I win,” he vowed, “will be to sign a strong, strong statement that will go out to the country, out to the world, that anybody killing a policeman, a policewoman, a police officer, anybody killing a police officer.”
“Death penalty is going to happen, OK?” he claimed.
In his latest speech to the Peace Officer’s Memorial Service, the Ppesident stated that he has “directed the Justice Department to do anything within their power to defend the lives of American law enforcement.”
These comments stand in stark contrast to those of Barack Obama, who frequently criticized police departments for being “stupid” and/or racist … even when the men in blue were being targeted.
That’s exactly what he did following the Dallas police massacre in July of 2016.
“We have all seen this bigotry in our lives at some point,” Obama told the mourners. “None of us is entirely innocent. No institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this.”
It is heartening to see his successor turning the page on that myopic perspective.
Cross posted at the Mental Recession
