Pirate's Cove

The NY Post Editorial Board is not impressed by Mayor de Blasio’s call for giving protest a rest till the murdered officers are buried

It’s the lawlessness

Mayor de Blasio’s call, apparently unheeded, for protesters to stand down until after the funerals for Police Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu was meant to give a city torn apart by their barbarous double murder some time to come together and heal.

It’s not a bad idea. Even so, it misses the point.

New York City’s problem is not that we have people protesting. The problem is the nature of the protests.

Ever since a Staten Island grand jury found no probable cause to indict a police officer in the death of Eric Holder, the protesters in this city have shown disregard for the law

We’ve seen the calls for “dead cops”. There have been dozens of threats against the NYPD, with at least 6 arrested. The FDNY had to abandon one of its stations due to it being next to a police station targeted by a gang. Streets have been blocked, creating problems for ambulances.

But instead of demanding protesters obey the law, the mayor and others for too long validated an anger based on a smear: that cops do not value black life. Not once did we hear Mayor de Blasio or Al Sharpton state the obvious: If Eric Garner and Michael Brown had in fact put their hands up and not resisted arrest, they would be alive today.

Don’t charge police officers. Don’t try and take their service weapons. Don’t resist arrest.

So let’s not pretend any of this is about the right to protest.

It’s lawlessness — done in a clear attempt to hold this city hostage — that is the real problem. And the city authorities who have until now winked at it.

It’s not just in NYC. We certainly saw this in Ferguson and the St. Louis area, not too mention the lawlessness spreading out to many other Liberal leaning cities across the country. Looting, arson, property destruction, violence, threats. In Oakland last night (yes, that would be Christmas night), anti-police “demonstrators” marched through the streets smashing windows, throwing bottles, tearing decorations off a Christmas tree

Leading the pack of 50 or so marchers was a group carrying a banner reading, “Justice for O’Shaine Evans. No Justice. No Peace,” referring to the 26-year-old Oakland man shot and killed by San Francisco police in October. The officer who shot Evans seven times said the man had aimed a gun at him.

“What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” the protesters cried. Another chant was aimed specifically at the police: “F.T.P.! F— the police!”

Don’t point a gun at a police officer unless you’re attempting suicide by cop. Our Constitution enshrines the right to protest peaceably. It’s also helpful if people are protesting on the side of criminals.

Crossed at Right Wing News.