A Brief History
On February 23, 2017, news outlets were awash with stories and video of an incident that took place Tuesday, February 21, 2017 in Anaheim, California (home of Disneyland). An off duty Los Angeles police officer residing in Anaheim had been having trouble with local youngsters (teens) trespassing in his yard on their way to and from school, when a confrontation broke out when the officer yelled at the kids and the kids, one in particular, made the mistake of mouthing off back at the officer.
Digging Deeper
Normally it is not against the law to be disrespectful, but this 13 year old (allegedly) told the cop the kid would shoot the officer, causing the not amused policeman to attempt to arrest the punk for menacing. When the officer attempted to grab the boy, other teens joined in with yelling, cursing, and threats, including a 15 year old that punched the officer and another teen that tackled the cop, knocking the officer backward over a hedge while still holding onto the 13 year old.
As the already violent group of teens surrounded the officer, the officer pulled his off duty pistol, but did not raise it toward anyone. As he continued to struggle with the 13 year old, the pistol discharged one bullet into the ground. Soon after, Anaheim police arrived and arrested the 13 year old and 15 year old, and escorted the officer for questioning. Reports were that the officer was fully compliant with the Anaheim police.
Instead of teaching their young people to respect other people’s property and to act courteously toward adults, especially adults in authority, the misguided people of the neighborhood descended upon the scene to protest the fact that kids were arrested and the policeman was not. (Obviously, there is no such thing as an “automatic” arrest just because a person is in a confrontation. Investigating officers determine probable cause for arrest on the scene, and later may add charges to any parties if further investigation warrants such action.)
The protest turned ugly, and numerous arrests (24) were made, fueled no doubt by inflammatory statements of parents, activists, and even the ACLU which expressed concern that the officer was not charged or arrested. (For what? Maybe he will be charged later, after a proper investigation.) Protesters vandalized the officer’s home and truck, and a neighbor’s house was vandalized as well, mistaken for that of the officer. Police responded in force wearing riot gear. Idiot protesters assailed the police with rocks and bottles, though no injuries were reported.
As is often the case in these modern times, cell phone video captured some of the incident, but not necessarily the beginning. Anaheim police are attempting to locate as many different videos as possible to aid in the investigation. Los Angeles Police reported they are conducting their own internal investigation of the incident.
Question for students (and subscribers): Was this incident precipitated by the past couple years of downgrading and demeaning the police? Have the youth of America been poisoned into believing it is right and proper to disrespect and even assault police officers? (Or for that matter any adults or persons of authority?) We have seen numerous incidents of police being falsely accused of brutality (“Hands up, don’t shoot” myth), and some unfortunate incidents where officers were indeed wrong in applying deadly force. Why are those few cases not just addressed instead of acting as if every single use of force is brutality? Have we forgotten about personal responsibility for our actions? Why are career criminals and thugs made out to be innocent martyrs, even when they are convicted felons and have guns illegally? Most importantly, if you have any advice as to how our country can get back on the right track, please feel free to add your comments regardless of which side you take in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Donald, Heather Mac. The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe. Encounter Books, 2016.