Blue lives matter

Today, these people in blue are more important than ever. However, being an officer today carries with it a stigma, largely resulting from criticism from certain groups and politicians. There is an increasing sentiment among some left and right wing groups, as well as politicians, that police are detrimental to the communities they protect. It is critical that we remember our police and firefighters and the sacrifices they make to ensure our safety.

There is no better example of the importance of people in blue than the sacrifices made by the U.S. Capitol Police and District of Columbia Police on Jan. 6, 2021. The day presented a threat of complete political anarchy, and to our country’s democracy itself. At the front line of this attack were MAGA-aligned rioters against the police officers protecting our Capitol. These officers were faced with a mob of hundreds of rioters who sought to keep then-president Donald Trump in power by stopping congressional certification of Biden’s win as president.

Directed by MAGA rioters, they broke police barricades and entered the Capitol. They broke windows and doors, enabling other rioters to follow en masse. It was an attack with only a few hundred officers to protect members of Congress and defend the Capitol. There were more than 140 cases of assaults and injuries to officers by rioters, 80 of whom were Capitol Police and 60 were from the D.C. Police Department. Officers were assaulted, crushed, beaten with rods, pushed downstairs, sprayed with chemical agents and sustained serious injuries.

Within days and months after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, multiple officers lost their lives. Officer Brian Sicknick died a day later. Chief Medical Examiner Francisco J. Diaz stated that “all that transpired played a role in his condition” and subsequent death. Officer Howard Liebengood, who had guarded the Capitol for 15 years, committed suicide just three days after suffering injuries. Police Officer Jeffrey Smith took his own life after he had been struck in the head by a metal pole thrown by the mob while defending the Capitol. Two Metropolitan police officers stationed at the Capitol Jan. 6, Kyle DeFreytag and Gunther Hashida, also took their own lives after the assault. The officers who died as a result of Jan. 6 were willing to lay down their lives to protect the sanctity of our political institutions. The physical and psychological toll of the Jan. 6, attack on responding officers cannot be understated. This attack was the most violent attack on our governmental institutions in the modern era. The conduct of these officers is emblematic of officers throughout our country, who demonstrate the same selflessness to protect and serve no matter the risk.

Regardless of political views, rioting against officers who are protecting both elected Republicans and Democrats is not something our country can tolerate. As a result, the Department of Justice prosecuted over 1,250 rioters, and many were ordered to serve jail time regardless of their political affiliation.

On Jan. 23 of this year, after taking office just a few days, President Donald Trump pardoned and commuted the sentences of all of those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. He then ordered the DOJ prosecutors fired who put these rioters in jail.

Some people just ignore the tragic truth of Jan. 6, 2021, and some are even attempting to now blame the FBI for instigating the riot. For those of us who believe that blue lives matter, it is undoubtedly a very sad day in our country, regardless of our politics – blue lives do matter!

Joseph W. Cotchett is a nationally recognized trial attorney. He was a colonel in the U.S. Army, both Intelligence Corps and Airborne Special Forces and awarded the Legion of Merit. He graduated from U.C. Law School S.F. and Cal Poly with a degree in engineering. He is in the American and California Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame.