State Trooper Tells BLM Protester: 'I Only Kneel' to God
It’s the kind of thing that builds American faith in law enforcement.
And the timing was perfect.
A Georgia state trooper on hand for a recent Black Lives Matter protest is lighting up social media, thanks to an answer he gave to a demonstrator who apparently demanded he take a knee as a sign of respect for the protesters’ cause.
“I was supposed to be out of town this weekend with my wife,” the trooper, identified by The Daily Caller as O’Neal Saddler, told the protester.
“I took off today, this weekend, but I’m out here just to make sure y’all are safe. Don’t go there with respect, OK?
“I have much respect, but I only kneel for one person, and that’s God.”
This is Georgia State Trooper O’Neal Saddler.
He was asked to kneel today, and this was his response.
God Bless him! ?? pic.twitter.com/DZOGg6qnFn
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) June 7, 2020
The video was reportedly shot in Hartwell, Georgia, about 90 miles northeast of Atlanta. It was posted Sunday to a photography studio’s Facebook page, then shared on Twitter by Ryan Fournier, national chairman of Students for Trump.
The precise time it was taken is a little unclear, since there was a Black Lives Matter protest in Hartwell on Friday, as documented by The Hartwell Sun, the local weekly. There was no protest on Sunday, residents contacted by phone Monday said.
Regardless, what was crystal clear was the message the trooper was sending.
Obviously, he’s an organization man — no one can last long in a quasi-military institution like a state police force without understanding the necessity for discipline and following orders. But when it comes to the ultimate form of obeisance — the act of kneeling — that’s reserved for the one ultimate power.
And social media users cheered:
This is the kind of officer we need nation wide, much to respect this man.
— Evan ?? (@Darefuhl) June 7, 2020
God bless that state Trooper and his family. That’s an American I am very proud of him.
— Dory O’Toole (@commodory) June 7, 2020
This is a true hero!
— chris forte (@cdr613) June 7, 2020
Of course, there were a few liberal knuckleheads ready to jump in with irrelevant jibes (there was at least one mocking comparison to President Donald Trump’s visit to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., for instance).
But the overwhelming majority of comments were approving — and grateful.
At a time when Americans are being assaulted daily with lies about the nation’s supposedly “racist” police forces based on the actions of the tiniest sliver of their membership, and watching as liberal politicians attack the men and women who actually protect law and order, a statement of quiet dignity and faith like the one out of Georgia carries weight.
In the over-inflated, and clearly manipulated reactions to the death of George Floyd in Minnesota on May 25, protesters across the country have screamed for police to kneel with them as a gesture of conciliation, as Fox News has reported. (Bizarrely, even that peaceful move is drawing heat from progressives now, according to ABC News.)
But one state trooper, with a respectful demeanor and gentle logic that only added strength to his words, gave the answer that every law enforcement officer — and every American — should take to heart.
For free Americans, kneeling is reserved for one power only — and that’s not the rabble of Black Lives Matter movement.
CORRECTION, June 8, 2020: This article originally misstated the location of Hartwell, Georgia, in relation to Atlanta. Hartwell is northeast of Atlanta.
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