Police Chiefs: Agitators Blocking Hospital After Officer Ambush Is 'a New Low'
Law enforcement heads in some of the country’s biggest cities are weighing in on the actions of radical demonstrators in California after two sheriff’s deputies were ambushed and shot over the weekend.
Two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies were ambushed and attacked as they sat in a patrol car in Compton on Saturday evening.
“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,” the department tweeted.
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
The sheriff’s office also shared a video of the brazen daylight attack.
WARNING: the following video contains graphic violence which some viewers may find disturbing:
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
Each officer was shot in the head.
The LASD also stated on Twitter that following the shooting, a group of protesters attempted to block an ambulance from bringing the wounded officers to a hospital:
(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
Detroit police chief James Craig, whose city is no stranger to violent crime, commented on the reported actions of demonstrators while speaking with Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” on Monday morning, along with other police chiefs.
“There is some that is a part of this anarchist movement that spew hate, they incite violence, and so now taken to the level of blocking emergency entrances to a hospital for others that might need immediate medical attention is horrible,” Craig told the program.
“I’ve got to tell you,” he continued, “the escalation of violence toward our men and women in uniform, I have not seen it like this in 44 years in this business.”
Craig said the actions to block an ambulance are a “new low” for leftist anti-police activists.
Miami Police Chief George Colina also weighed in the violent and unprovoked attack.
“When you think about what happened there in LA County, the fact that you have two officers sitting in a car, they are ambushed, they are shot for no reason other than wearing a uniform, then you show up at a hospital and you chant, ‘We hope you die,’ while you block the entrance of the hospital, depriving people of medical services, it’s such a lack of humanity,” Colina told Fox News.
Likewise, Lisa Parker, the police chief in Manchester Township, New Jersey, said she concurred with her fellow law enforcement heads.
“When do we say enough is enough?” she said, noting some cities have seen more than 100 days of riots.
“When do we let the business go back to doing business?” Parker said. “Think about just even here in New York City. Our families, we would have been in New York multiple times, we don’t go to New York now and I wouldn’t suggest anyone going there. It’s hurting businesses, people are leaving — when does America say enough is enough? My thoughts are it’s in the polls in November.”
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva called the ambush a “cowardly act.”
“The two deputies were doing their job, minding their own business, watching out for the safety of the people on the train,” Villanueva said, according to KABC-TV.
“To see somebody just walk up and start shooting on them. It pisses me off. It dismays me at the same time. There’s no pretty way to say it,” he said.
One officer is described as a 31-year-old mother, while the other officer who was shot is a 24-year-old man.
Both deputies were sworn in during the same class 14 months ago.
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