In too many areas of this country, if you’re an avowed leftist, even a member of a violent anti-police de facto militia like BLM or Antifa, if you commit a crime, even with a firearm, often, you’re not held responsible. And, even if you are held responsible, they might let you out for Christmas while a wrongly convicted cop remains locked up.
This targeted leniency is proven with stories like the New York Post told about a Minnesota, prosecutor, Richard Dustenhoft. This 20-year+ veteran prosecutor quit his job, because a “policy shift” from above “is more lenient on crime and designed to keep offenders out of jail.”
This rings so true because it’s happening to too many people in too many places.
If you’re not an avowed leftist, and especially if you are a cop, they’ll do a reverse plea and try to up-charge a spitting on the sidewalk infraction to a violent “three-strikes” felony.
If you’re a radical leftist lawyer from New York City who firebombs an NYPD patrol car, you’ll do the same or even less time than a conservative who trespassed at the Capitol on 1/6. Never has “they went after them with a vengeance” ever been so literal.
American cops were fired simply for being in D.C. at the time.
When targeting conservatives or cops, the motivation often seems oddly vindictive, almost rage filled. For example, former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota veteran police officer Kim Potter was infamously involved in a tragic incident initiated by the suspect. During the incident, Potter shot and killed the resisting and attempting to escape suspect accidentally. She’d mistakenly drawn her firearm instead of the Taser she’d intended to deploy.
Brooklyn Center Police Department
As details came out, no one but the most stridently partisan, anti-copper believed it wasn’t a fatal but honest mistake. Even watching the video and listening to Potter’s comments immediately after the incident confirmed she never intended to shoot the suspect with her gun. She’d intended to use her Taser. She even yelled, “Taser” before firing. She appeared as shocked as anyone that she’d fired her gun.
They convicted Potter even though she would have been authorized to use lethal force (the suspect attempted to drive away while a police sergeant was still partially within the vehicle).
About a year ago, I wrote, here at NPA, “In the video, just before the shooting, viewers can hear Potter shout, “Taser, Taser, Taser!” Then, she fired once, striking Wright, who drove off and crashed further up the street and later died.
“Potter says, ‘Sh** I shot him.’ Distraught, she drops to the planting strip, sobbing. Sgt. Johnson tries to console her, saying, ‘Kim, take a breath. Kim, you’re okay. Kim, that guy was trying to take off with me in the car.’”
In another article about a week later, after she was convicted, I wrote, “Cops are still human and will make mistakes. Can you imagine risking your life, doing your job in good faith, making an honest mistake, and going to prison for it? After honorable service for over two decades, Kim Potter doesn’t have to imagine it.”
Not surprisingly, the legacy media focused on the suspect’s family’s reactions, with statements like, referring to what they felt was a light sentence “murdered him all over again.”
Bottomline, Potter was convicted of manslaughter, a crime, even though she’d acted in good faith but made a legitimate, honest, though tragic, mistake, not a crime, and was sent to prison for 16 months.
Now, with all the leniency shown leftist-protected criminals these days, as reported by Alpha News, Kim Potter will remain behind bars this Christmas, though her family, friends, and well-wishers had hoped the Board of Pardons would grant her an early release.”
And her non-release wasn’t an oversight; it appears deliberate—vindictive. According to Potter’s best friend, Becky Boie, “This past year has been one of pain, turmoil, and absolute disbelief surrounding Kim, the trial, conviction, and sentencing. The final blow was seeing Kim’s name on the excluded list for the upcoming Parole Board meeting” .
Excluded because of who she was… a cop?
The thing that really got to Potter’s supporters was that while she’d been excluded, “Criminals who committed especially heinous offenses like premeditated murder were included, however.”
Despite leaving messages, writing letters and emails, supporters feel their politicians “have failed” them. Echoing my sentiments, Boie said, “They have allowed actual criminals to walk free with plea bargains, stayed sentences, or have granted them early release. The last time that I checked a carjacking, robbery, burglary etc. are not committed accidentally.”
Exactly.
And for Potter, the price she’s paid has been enormous. She lost her law enforcement career after many years of service and dedication to her community. For most others being “compassionately” released for Christmas, criminality is their career. A prison sentence loses them nothing other than the opportunity to continue to prey on innocent victims.
Boie asked, “How did we get to this point in society that if you dedicate your life to helping others that you will be persecuted for making an innocent mistake, but only if you wear a badge?”
That’s obviously a rhetorical question, but it’s one that deserves an answer because it’s happening to too many cops. People can’t figure society out anymore. All the rules are upside down, inside out, or backwards.
Too many people in our society have lost the ability to think critically. They’re only interested in on whose “team” someone is on before they decide guilt or innocence. In too much of America, justice has become a stranger.
About the author: Steve Pomper is a LifeZette.com contributor, a retired Seattle police officer, and the author of five non-fiction books, including The Obama Gang: How Barack Obama, through his post-presidency foundation, assembled, launched, and wages the new assault on American law enforcement, and De-Policing America: A Street Cop’s View of the Anti-Police State. He served his entire career on the streets, including as a Field Training Officer, East Precinct Mountain Bike Patrol Coordinator, and on the Community Police Team. Steve has a BA in English Language and Literature. He enjoys spending time with his kids and grandkids. He loves to ride his Harley, hike, and cycle with his wife, Jody, a retired firefighter. You can find out more about Steve and send him comments and questions at www.stevepomper.com.
This article originally appeared at the National Police Association.
