Piers Morgan: Sheriff-Shooting Ambush Just as Sickening as George Floyd's Death
British anti-gun activist Piers Morgan wrote an Op-Ed published in the U.K. Daily Mail on Monday in which he condemned Saturday’s ambush of two Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies in Compton.
Condemnation of those who target and attempt to execute law enforcement officers shouldn’t be something we should have to praise media figures for doing.
But in today’s political climate, credit must be given where it is due.
Even if credit must be awarded to Morgan.
The former CNN host wrote that the video of the two deputies being shot as they sat in a patrol car shocked him, and he even compared the attempted daylight execution to the killing of George Floyd, which sparked the nationwide movement that is plausibly partially responsible for the shootings of those officers.
“I didn’t think I would see anything as sickening this year as the appalling killing of George Floyd at the kneed of a callous police officer,” Morgan wrote in his opinion piece. “But I was wrong.”
“The grainy video of a disgusting coward sneaking up to shoot two deputy sheriffs in Compton, Los Angeles as they sat in their patrol car was just as repulsive and disturbing.”
The Briton weighed both incidents and asked for the officers to receive the kind of public outcry Floyd posthumously received.
“This was just a deliberate, pre-meditated attempt at a cold-blooded execution,” he added.
“The shooter clearly intended to kill his targets as he fired a number of rounds from his pistol at point blank range into their car before running off,” he wrote of the Sept. 12 attack.
Moments ago, 2 of our Sheriff Deputies were shot in Compton and were transported to a local hospital. They are both still fighting for their lives, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We will update this thread with information as it becomes available.
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) September 13, 2020
Morgan then went after the mob that not only attempted to block the officers from receiving medical care but also wished them death after they were shot, which was first reported by the sheriff’s office.
Update: The gunman walked up on the deputies and opened fire without warning or provocation. pic.twitter.com/cBQjyKkoxJ
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) September 13, 2020
(1/3) #LASD Century Sheriff’s Station Watch Commander reports the following:
After deputies issued a dispersal order for the unlawful assembly of a group of protesters blocking the hospital emergency entrance & exits, a male adult protester refused to comply & cooperate…
— LA County Sheriffs (@LASDHQ) September 13, 2020
“To compound the senseless barbarity of the shooting, ‘protesters’ yesterday blocked the entrance and exit to the hospital emergency room where the two deputies were taken, chanting vile abuse,” Morgan wrote.
“What kind of people spew such disgraceful slurs and threats?” he rhetorically asked.
“There’s no real difference to the mindset [of the Compton shooter and Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin]. Both are contemptible.”
Morgan also called out NBA star LeBron James, who has been notably silent on the police shootings but frequently opines on deadly clashes between black crime suspects and police.
We’re literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes! Can’t even go for a damn jog man! Like WTF man are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!? No man fr ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!! I’m sorry Ahmaud(Rest In Paradise) and my prayers and blessings sent to the….. pic.twitter.com/r1PNxs8Vgn
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 6, 2020
“Oddly though, there has been no response at all from the likes of LeBron James, the basketball superstar who’s been so rightly vocal about police brutality to black people,” Morgan wrote.
“LeBron lives in Los Angeles now that he plays for the LA Lakers. So, this is HIS city, and he is the biggest and most influential black role model in it.”
‘“I want to make a challenge…to LeBron James’: LA Sheriff Villanueva says Lakers star, social activist should ‘step up’ and help double reward to find gunman who shot deputies https://t.co/F9i5jm3uBr
— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) September 15, 2020
“Only if we all come together and agree that unjustified violence of any kind is wrong, whoever is the victim, and whatever the color of their skin or uniform, can any real progress be made in the battle for racial equality and justice,” Morgan went on. “The tragedy of this latest incident is that it makes no sense.”
“Just as the killing of George Floyd defied all logic given his alleged crime was trying to buy cigarettes with counterfeit money, so the purpose of this attack is impossible to understand,” he concluded.
Morgan went on to say that from his perspective, the Compton shooter, who is still on the lam, has accomplished nothing other than to “ensure that relations between police and the black community in LA just got immeasurably worse.”
He isn’t wrong.
The challenges of being a police officer while also being vilified by the media and Democrats are becoming lost.
Where is the empathy for good, hardworking cops who simply want to serve their communities and make it home after an emotionally taxing shift?
Where is that conversation from the “defund the police” crowd, which works around the clock to dehumanize officers?
Not one rational person wasn’t bothered when initially viewing the video of Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin’s knee over Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
If nothing else, the moment seemed to show an isolated moment of callousness from a person in a position of authority.
The rest is up for debate.
But while nearly everyone condemned Floyd’s death, disavowals of the Compton attack have been scant and less than impassioned.
Since Floyd’s death began being used as a pretext for rioting, looting and other violent crimes, law-abiding Americans have shown a great deal of restraint and patience.
That patience, if you haven’t been out for a while, is wearing thin.
The media and those who so often speak up on weighted topics could do a great deal of good by displaying their outrage, if it exists, against a brazen daylight ambush of two cops.
It could potentially go a long way toward de-escalating nationwide tensions and could demonstrate that those who share their outrage every time deadly force is used by police are capable of empathy.
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