If there is one truth borne out by the recent spate of mistaken identity shootings, it’s that when push comes to shove, Americans will protect themselves. In three separate shootings in April, homeowners took no chances when they believed their lives were in danger. The most tragic case involved the killing of an upstate woman when the car in which she was a passenger, pulled into the wrong driveway. That elicited a deadly response from the 65-year-old homeowner who is charged with second degree murder for railing off two shots from a 12-gauge shotgun.
In Kansas City an 84-year-old man shot a teenager who knocked on the wrong door looking for his younger brothers. The teen has been hospitalized while the shooter has not been charged.
Meanwhile, in South Florida a man shot at two Instacart delivery workers who inadvertently drove to the wrong address. No one was injured in that incident, although the car was left with bullet holes a flat tire. The shooter told police that when he saw a vehicle on his property, he asked his son to tell the occupants to leave. The homeowner said he came out armed when he heard his son calling for help. The resident said he fired after the car ran over his foot.
The media has tried to make the last two incidents racial. In both cases the shooters were white, their targets, black. Naturally, the Left, in addition to racism, is blaming the easy access to firearms for the shootings. But at the root of the problem is fear – fear on the part of citizens who see their government as either unwilling or unable to protect them. Of course, patriots understand that ultimately, WE are responsible for our own safety and the safety of our families.
There are defund the police movements and soft on crime policies in place across the country. Here in New York, progressive lawmakers, in an effort to reduce the number of young black men behind bars, set about to reform the state’s criminal justice laws. In 2019 democrats forced through no-cash bail laws which has resulted in criminals being turned back out on the streets for misdemeanor or non-violent felonies. Often, these low-level offenders get rearrested for similar or more serious crimes.
The George Floyd killing, and the pandemic made matters worse. Many of our nation’s cities resembled war zones in third world countries, not cities in the freest most prosperous nation on earth. The Leftist agitators of Black Lives Matter and ANTIFA, orchestrated riots that resulted in dozens of deaths and millions of dollars in property damage.
City-Data.com claims that Washington D.C.’s crime rate is roughly twice the national average. The overall crime rate in Washington state is up 25% from a year ago, with a 29% increase in property offenses alone. Places such as Detroit and Chicago are like shooting galleries in which young black men and gang bangers snuff out each other’s lives without giving it a second thought.
If people begin losing faith in government’s ability to maintain public order, civil society will break down. Americans must demand criminal justice policies that punish law breakers and free law enforcement to do what they are constitutionally tasked with doing: protecting life and property. If not, we will continue to see more innocent people have their lives cut short simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr. Flint has moderated numerous political talk shows and currently hosts the PAC-Man Podcast on the BMG Network. For nearly two decades, he’s worked as a Producer in the NYS Assembly Republican Radio-TV Department.