Trump Seeks Death Penalty for Cop Killers While Dem Gives Cop Killer Right to Vote
President Donald Trump ran for office, in part, on a promise of respecting and upholding the rule of law, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the men and women of law enforcement who risk their lives on a daily basis to do so.
The president recently reiterated that strong support for law enforcement when he called yet again for the death penalty to be applied to criminals who purposefully murder police officers.
Meanwhile, as many Democrats staunchly oppose virtually everything said or done by Trump, that opposition has led some of them into positions where they are quite obviously viewed as standing on the side of murderous criminals instead of law-abiding citizens and the men and women who enforce the rule of law.
For example, look at the latest action by anti-Trump Democrat New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who issued an executive order in April that granted himself the authority to issue pardons to ex-convicts that would restore their right to vote, according to the New York Post.
While restoring the Constitutional rights of former convicts who have served their time and paid their debt to society is not a bad thing — indeed, many on the right are supportive of such measures in a limited fashion for non-violent ex-convicts — a line has generally been drawn to exclude violent felons, like convicted murderers, from enjoying such a restoration of rights.
But it would appear that Cuomo has drawn no such line, as he just granted conditional pardons which restored the right to vote to more than 24,000 parolees, one of whom was convicted cop killer Herman Bell.
Bell, a 70-year-old ex-gang member who was paroled April 27 after serving 40 years behind bars, had been convicted of murdering two New York City police officers in a 1971 ambush attack in Harlem.
Bell had been a member of the Black Liberation Army and had lured the two officers — Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones — into a housing project with a false domestic violence call. He shot both officers in the back — Piagentini dozens of times and Jones, who was black, four times — while they screamed and begged for help.
The release of Bell by the parole board sparked outrage among lawmakers, police unions and especially the families of the slain officers, including one of the officers’ widows. Even socialist New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio opposed Bell’s release.
“What is Andrew Cuomo possibly thinking? Herman Bell murdered two New York City police officers in cold blood, never once showing remorse, and Cuomo gives him early release and voting rights?” said Marcus Molinaro, the Republican candidate for governor running to unseat Cuomo in November.
“Even Bill de Blasio argued against Bell’s release,” Molinaro added. “I weep for the families of officers Jones and Piagentini, and urge the governor to show them some respect. Has the Governor had the decency to even speak to them? Herman Bell belongs in a maximum security prison cell for life, not in a voting booth.”
But it would appear that Cuomo has paid no mind to those opposed to his actions, as he stood by his decision to restore voting rights to those who’d served their time and been released — apparently regardless of the crimes committed — and said it’d be “unconscionable” to do otherwise.
“The right to vote is fundamental and it is unconscionable to deny that basic right of citizenship to New Yorkers who have paid their debt to society,” Cuomo said. “Restoring a voice to men and women re-entering their communities will strengthen our democracy, as well as the re-entry process, which in turn will help reduce recidivism.”
All laudable goals, to be sure … but not for convicted cop killers.
It is noteworthy that this ghastly move by Cuomo came on the eve of the New York Democratic Party convention, where Cuomo is fending off a push on his left flank by progressive candidate Cynthia Nixon to receive the nomination for re-election to a third term.
“Doing so on the eve of the state Democratic Convention is no coincidence — it is just the latest in a series of politically motivated decisions designed to attract more votes from the far-left fringes of his party,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan. “The governor’s executive order circumvented the legislative process and is offensive to the thousands of people who have been victimized by these hardened criminals … the governor has put politics ahead of the public interest and he must be stopped.”
Thus, it is plain as can be to the American people — and citizens of New York in particular — that while President Trump stands with the law-abiding and law enforcement, Cuomo and other Democrats stand in defense of murderous gang members and cop killers, a rather stark contrast if there ever was one as we head toward the November midterms.
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