Another American city falls prey to violence spurred by unrest over police action. Last night, Philadelphia saw thousands of people take to the streets after the Officer Involved Shooting of an armed man. Police were called to the scene in West Philadelphia in response to a Call for Service involving a reported man with a knife (In video the Suspect is dressed in black hoodie on right of screen approaching around parked car pursuing officers for unknown reason). Video taken of the encounter clearly showed officers retreating while backing away from the man who was holding a knife and threatening the officers. After backing up down a side walk, around parked cars and into the street, all the while lawfully ordering the man to stop, officers defended themselves as the man closed the gap and a shooting occurred. Unfortunately, the man died a short time later at a local hospital. It is an important rule to remember that under law, a law enforcement officer does not have a duty to retreat. They can, as was witnessed in this video, but they are never required.

I have written on this platform and others about the reactionary gap related to the very short time period an officer has to effectively and safely react with regard to a suspect’s actions. I have discussed the 21 Foot Rule that has proven to show how a person, armed with a knife, can close the physical distance and lethally attack an officer before an officer can process the threat and make the decision to use force.

I have actually witnessed an officer who was rapidly approached by a man armed with a knife and subsequently had his neck slashed before he could react to the threat. The Reactionary Gap and the 21 Foot Rule are taught at police academies throughout the country for the very reason that deadly force can be justified when a person who is armed with a knife or other weapon, who is acting in a violent and threatening manner approaches an officer with perceived intent.

Ironically, the upset “citizens” of Philadelphia did not question the use of deadly force by the officers in using their service weapons but asked – demanded – why they did not use a Taser. Excuse me, really, how unbelievable! Taser really? But that is par for the course in law enforcement today as it does not matter anymore how or why an officer took action, the manner in which he or she took action, or most importantly, the legality of those actions because it will never satisfy those seeking their stated agenda.

But tragically the facts no longer seem to matter in this country. On a daily basis officers are ferociously attacked by violent and crazed people. They are then met with the likes of police command staff who turn their backs on them as well as the politically motivated prosecutors and municipal managers who seek to politicize the incident to appease the radical anarchist groups rather than upholding the rule of law.

I could fill every square inch of this paper with facts related law enforcement, their activities, their lives and deaths, the good things officers do as well as the bad things. I could rationally and systematically analyze police encounters and explain what the cops did was good, what was within policy and the law and what they did wrong and out of policy and the law. I could cite issues related to the need for additional training and equipment, the need for more funding – in the hyped up area of the ridiculous “Defund the Police” movement – and reforms but it all would fall on deaf ears.

Why, because none of those issues are really the issues at hand. It is all about how to use radical divisive politics as a weapon of anarchy, to upend this country, and fundamentally change it. The mantra used repeatedly by politicians, financiers, enablers, media, and their anarchist foot soldiers over the past months and several years has been to use any force necessary to achieve that stated goal of the dismantling of America.

Some may not believe this and, at times, I have tried very hard to not believe it either. I honestly don’t want to believe that fellow citizens of my own country truly want to destroy the very country in which we all live. This concept is beyond reason but it is hard to dispute the facts of what we have been witnessing on a daily basis over the past year.

A week or so will tell us what kind of country we will live in, how our daily lives will be affected, and what freedoms will remain. Because you see, it is our lives, our very personal and individual lives, that ultimately will be affected and controlled by the people we elect into political offices from the local to the national. Like it or not, that is the case.

Our elected office holders (I refrain from using the term “leader”) have control over every aspect of our lives – every aspect. That is why it is so crucial to know and understand who your elected office holders are, their policies, what they stand for, and most importantly what they are going to do for you and unto you as a representative in government. I trust that we will remain a country operating under the ideals and tenants enshrined in our Constitution and Bill of Rights ensuring the personal freedoms and liberties of all Americans.

In closing, I find it ironic that one of the last American cities to see turmoil, destruction, and mayhem as a result of anarchist leftist civil unrest days before the contentious 2020 National elections is the city where upon the First and Second Continental Congresses met in order to write and sign the Declaration of Independence in July 1776.

Viper One Six – Out

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