The harmful effects of stigmatizing law enforcement and security forces

In the face of the tragedy in Minneapolis, in which a young man died after being shot by a Border Patrol agent, an investigation is absolutely necessary to allow all Americans to know the truth, and to deliver justice if justice is due. President Donald Trump has insisted this and it is the position the White House has officially taken. The anguish of many Americans over the images of violent clashes and the death already of two Americans is hardly logical and symbolic of empathy, but concern over possible mistakes, or malpractice, should not lead people to fall into widespread stigmatization of law enforcement, that is a dangerous and unfair path.

America is a country that has always valued and respected those who choose to protect the safety of Americans, whether in the military or in any other law enforcement agency. That tradition cannot be lost. When President Trump decided to send the National Guard to D.C., we saw the more radical left imposing the absurd narrative that having the military on the streets of the capital created an environment of insecurity. Unfortunately, many people fell for that idea and we saw images of citizens harassing the military, insulting them, recording them with their phones while provoking them. And maybe many of these attitudes are not crimes, but are they correct?

The answer should be clear, it is not right to harass and insult a soldier for following orders and patrolling the streets of a city. We are talking about people who put their lives at risk to protect a country and now, as a result of the anti-military rhetoric of the left, are being treated as villains. What incentive would a young man who is deciding his professional career to become a soldier have, if in addition to putting his life at risk, it seems that a certain sector of society repudiates them to the point of comparing them to Nazis, and what would a United States be without brave young men willing to take these jobs. 

The situation in Minnesota is much more complicated than the situation in Washington, but at its core it poses the same problem, and the same harmful intent of the radical left to push anti-military sentiment. Minnesota is an extremely liberal state, and the two tragic events that ended in the deaths of two Americans at the hands of agents make the situation even more complicated and sensitive. We all want justice and to always prevent deaths as much as possible, but those complaints can't cause rational people to go on a rampage to the radical left extreme of labeling the military, ICE, and the border patrol as Nazis or troublemakers. These are people who are doing their job, which is to enforce the laws.

If people want to change, for example, immigration laws, the right thing to do is for their complaints to go to legislators, to demonstrate with a vote, but it is not right, nor is it legal, for example, to intervene and obstruct an ICE operation. In these tense times, it is necessary to be temperate and recognize that there are valid points on both sides, but that the solution is not to stop enforcing the law, much less to attack the agents. Let's imagine for a moment a state in which the wishes of the most radical leftists are fulfilled, what would happen if ICE does not act and cannot capture the criminals, because all the people moved perhaps by a good heart, but uninformed, go out to block the streets. How many more tragedies like those of Jocelyn Lisel Nungaray or Laken Riley would we have to see? The solution is not to destroy ICE, nor to impede its work, that would be a tragedy.

Doubts and just complaints about possible abuses of power or misbehavior by particular agents should not lead Americans into dangerous and unfair stigmatization. America in large measure is a great country because of those men who choose to put their lives on the line and work in state security agencies. Freedom of speech is sacred and the right to demonstrate is unquestioned. However, frustration cannot be transformed into a call to break the law, nor can a possible individual mistake justify thousands of Americans losing sight of the rules, respect for authority and the essential work performed by the military and agents of the various agencies.