The president ripped into the
violent MS-13 gang last week, and talked about crime and law enforcement
and what his administration is doing about it. He had hundreds of law
enforcement officers in the audience, and their applause made it clear
that they were pleased the new President had replaced the old one and
that the old one’s anti-police animus was gone from public life, that
the war on police was over.
Trump talked about what his
administration is doing to eradicate the MS-13 gang and the violence and
mayhem it is spreading, particularly on Long Island, where he made the
speech. He talked about the 17 young people murdered by MS-13 gang
members on Long Island in the past 18 months. He went on to discuss the
42 minors in the DC region who entered the US unaccompanied in the last
years of the Obama Administration, who are now implicated in
MS-13-related violence, including 19 of those minors charged in murder
or attempted murder.
And he talked about what his Administration is doing
to slow the flow of illegal drugs coming in from Mexico, about human
trafficking on our Southern border, and about stemming the flow of
illegals coming into the country. He explained how his administration
cuts off trade with countries that refuse to take deportees back –
mostly criminals – and how quickly cutting off trade makes those
countries change their policy.
He announced that ICE officers recently conducted the
largest crackdown of alien criminal gangs in history, and how in just
six weeks they arrested nearly 1400 suspects and seized more than 200
illegal firearms and nearly 600 pounds of narcotics.
He spoke about sanctuary cities that defy federal law
and instead turn dangerous criminals back onto the streets instead of
detaining them, as requested by the federal government, and what the
government is doing to end the practice. And he spoke about the wall on
the US-Mexican border, and how Congress just appropriated the first $1.6
billion to start construction.
Most importantly, he spoke about all that the federal
government is now doing to support the police, to restore the American
concept of the rule of law to criminal justice and law enforcement. All
in all, Trump made a very pro-law enforcement speech – the kind of
speech that never came from President Obama, and the kind of speech that
Hillary Clinton, had she won the election, could never have brought
herself to make.
But you wouldn’t know much about that speech if you
read the news. Try this: Google “Trump Law Enforcement Speech” and see
what comes up. “Trump Endorses Police Brutality,” or “Trump Just
Delivered the Most Chilling Speech of his Presidency,” or how about
“Trump calls for more Police Brutality?” No headlines about the surging
murder rate in Los Angeles and Chicago, about knifings and slashing of
children by MS-13 gang members, nothing about the opioid epidemic and
the drug dealers and smugglers responsible. You would think all he did
was to urge on police brutality.
And why? Because Trump ad libbed a quip about the use
of force during an arrest. His staff said it was a joke, and in today’s
climate that’s always dangerous. After describing the way MS-13 gang
members slash children to death, he said, “you see these thugs being
thrown into the back of a paddy wagon — you just see them thrown in,
rough — I said, please don’t be too nice. Like when you guys put
somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way
you put their hand over? Like, don’t hit their head and they’ve just
killed somebody — don’t hit their head. I said, you can take the hand
away, okay?”
The police are obviously authorized to use force when
needed, and every police department has strict rules on how force can
be used. When it is abused there is a whole body of law that comes into
play, including civil and criminal charges against the offending
officer. Many suspects complain that police used excessive force, and
most such complaints are dismissed after careful review. But the
anti-police voices in the media begin with an irrebuttable presumption
that the police are out-of-control, bigoted racists, and that’s made our
streets less safe.
But of course I’m forgetting the worst thing Trump
said. He talked about putting criminals in a “paddy wagon.” How
shocking! A slur against the Irish.
Alfred Regnery is Chairman of the Law Enforcement Action Network. He previously served in the Department of Justice.
