The following letter was published in the “Readers Write” column of the December 19th Times Legder Newspaper.
Queens rallies to support our police
Supporting our police officers for protecting us day and night, is not a Republican or Democrat political issue, it’s an American issue. The U.S. Constitution was established in order to “…establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense…” The first job of government is public safety, and to protect our lives and liberties from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
The recent St. Louis County and Staten Island grand jury decisions not to file criminal charges against the police officers involved in the death of criminal perpetrators who resisted arrest, sparked protests in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City and other parts of the country. Whether you agree with the grand jury verdicts or believe they were unjust, one thing clear as day is that the level of hostility and unmitigated outrage against police officers and our system of justice is out of control.
Protesting and demonstrating to voice one’s opinions is American as apple pie. But rioting, looting, blocking the FDR Drive, shutting down bridges, as well as punching and threatening police officers that we have seen recently, is not protesting injustice. It’s nothing but the rule of the mob who threaten to get their way or else burn the whole city down. Its “street justice” based upon the whims and emotions of rioters and rebels who aim to glorify criminals and cop killers, and vilify America, malign honorable police officers, our grand jury process and the whole system of justice.
In Foley Square, they chanted, “Eric Garner, Michael Brown, shut the whole system down.” At a demonstration in Jackson Heights, an activist said in a fit of rage: “This country that we’re in, this city that we’re in, this building that we’re in was stolen from indigenous people, built on genocide.” In Corona, activists waved signs saying “Stop Police Terror Now” and equated our NYPD with those of Mexico, a failed state run by drug cartels and mobsters where the corrupt police allegedly kidnapped 43 students.
However, the real danger is not so much from the organized mobs and anti-American radicals in the streets, as from our elected officials who play to their whims, and encourage their defiance. Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights) attended the Jackson Heights protest and excoriated the police in an emotional speech saying: “I am committed to the struggle to end police brutality.”
Street protesters destroying property, blocking traffic, disrupting Christmas shoppers, and threatening police officers now have political cover and encouragement from our mayor, our City Council, our governor, and the president of the United States. When City Council members staged a “die-in” on the steps of City Hall chanting anti-police slogans, and congressional staffers walked out of their jobs holding their hands up, they fanned the flames of mob mentality and undermined our system of laws.
America is not ruled by mobs or kings. But Attorney General Holder has sent in the federal thought police to dictate policy to our local law enforcement communities to end what he calls “biased policing.” Also, Governor Cuomo conferred with hip-hop producer Russell Simmons and former crack dealer Jay Z on police issues and promised an immediate executive order appointing special prosecutors in place of the district attorneys in grand jury cases of alleged police brutality. The hip-hop moguls threatened “action” should the governor break his promise.
Elected officials acting like despots, in solidarity with the rioting mobs, are now undermining our system of justice. Concurring with the mob, they say the grand jury system is inherently racist, so “burn it down.”With a swipe of his pen, King Cuomo, bowing to mob rule, would substitute an unelected crony to do his bidding instead of an elected impartial district attorney, discarding centuries’ worth of legal precedent from the British Magna Carta, to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights, which enshrines the grand jury process in the Fifth Amendment. Without democracy and the rule of law, we are headed to a tribal society where a tin-pot dictator decides who is guilty and who is innocent. Our founding fathers established our nation based upon the rule of law, not the rule of kings or mobs, where you are innocent until proven guilty.
Now we need to fight back and stand up for our police, America and the rule of law. On January 13th, at 12 noon, we will be demonstrating our support for the honorable men and women of the NYPD on the steps of Queens Borough Hall. Come out to the “Support Your Local Police” rally and press conference, a non-partisan rally for all Democrats, Republicans, Conservatives or those with no political affiliation, who support our police. From there, we will have rallies in all four other Boroughs to thank our NYPD and stand up for our country. We are the majority. We can no longer remain silent. We must speak out louder than the organized mobs and our would-be political despots who approve of their aims to “burn it down.” This begins today!
Phil Orenstein
President
Queens Village Republican Club
