Friday, May 7, was to have been a solemn day at Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin.
For most of 2020 and 2021, law enforcement officers who died in the line of duty couldn’t be properly remembered in the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial in Capitol Square, a memorial that pays tribute to those who have given their lives upholding the law throughout the years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to WEAU-TV, six names were added to the honor roll last week. Law enforcement officers and their families gathered in the square for what was to be a solemn event to remember the lives of the six officers who gave their lives between 1933 and 2020. The memorial currently has 285 names on it.
Police formed a procession to attend the event. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul were among those who attended, according to WKOW-TV.
“For the 285 names on the wall, we tell them we will not forget you, we will never forget what you gave up for us and we will never forget everyone gathered here today,” C.O.P.S. president Jo Ann Mignon told those in attendance, according to WEAU.
Eight minutes into the ceremony, however, protesters proved yet again why we can’t have nice things in 2021.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
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One protester with a megaphone begins talking over the speakers honoring the police officers who died in the line of duty.
“We have a right to protest!” one individual can be heard saying.
“Black Lives Matter!” another can be heard saying at the two-minute mark.
“This is a megaphone. By the way, this is not a gun, this is a megaphone,” the most vocal of the protesters can be heard saying.
After a bit of back-and-forth, he goes on a rant against an unidentified individual: “You’ve got tears coming out of my eyes. You know why? Because I have faith in people, and you’re totally disrupting my f***ing balance right now.” He went on to say he was “begging you m*********ers to stop killing people that look like me.”
Meanwhile, rap music with lyrics like “f*** the police” was playing in the background during a moment of silence.
When a pastor came up to deliver a prayer, she was booed. After she was finished, someone in the crowd yelled, “murderers!”
No love was given to Wisconsin’s liberal governor, Tony Evers, either. According to Wisconsin Right Now, when he was announced, one protester yelled, “We don’t like Gov. Evers!” through a megaphone
“How come the African-American national anthem wasn’t played?” another asked.
If you choose to watch the full ceremony — it’s almost 40 minutes long and painful in the disrespect that was shown — you’ll hear one thing over and over again from the disruptors: “We have a right to protest!”
Whether or not one has a right to protest and whether or not that protest is appropriate or productive are two different matters. In this case, protesters descended upon an event where the families of fallen police officers were gathered and, among other things, disrupted the ceremony by playing rap music with “f*** the police, f*** the police” in the lyrics. What change was this supposed to produce?
For that matter, what did these officers have to do with the grievances the protesters had?
On the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial’s Facebook page, the death of officer Mark S. Lentz was described.
“On August 3, 2017, Officer Lentz, while attempting to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation, a second vehicle intentionally struck Officer Lentz’s marked police motorcycle from behind. The driver of the second vehicle was an acquaintance of the driver of the first vehicle and was helping his friend avoid being stopped in a stolen vehicle,” the post read. “Officer Lentz remained under medical care until passing, on September 18, 2019, due to complications related to his injury.”
Then there was Dane County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Richard C. Treadwell: “Deputy Treadwell was assigned to the Dane County Law Enforcement Training Center, where he contracted COVID-19. Deputy Treadwell died on August 22, 2020, due to complications of COVID-19. Deputy Treadwell served with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office for 25 years.”
But no: This was the perfect opportunity to protest police brutality, at an event celebrating the lives of men and women who died serving us, and all in the presence of the friends, family and colleagues of these fallen heroes. These are the people who deserve to be called “murderers,” according to the protesters.
And the left wonders why Black Lives Matter doesn’t enjoy unalloyed support.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
