Lost in the horrendous scenes of Joe Biden’s surrender and retreat from Afghanistan over the last three weeks was an episode of injustice targeting the wife of our friend and, most recently, Texas GOP Chairman Allen West. He is now a gubernatorial candidate.

Our longtime readers will recall that in 2003, we were the first national organization to come to the defense of then LtCol West after an Operation Iraqi Freedom incident leading to his unjustly being charged with a UCMJ violation for his interrogation of an Iraqi national believed to have information about an ambush of American soldiers. I have supported Allen through many different endeavors since and know him to be an extraordinary voice for American Liberty, and a man with very strong family and faith convictions.

You will find no man in our country who is more supportive of law enforcement. At the same time, Allen does not hesitate to call out negligent policing practices. What follows is an indisputable case of, at best, such negligence and, at worst, the zealous targeting of the wife of a high-profile Black conservative.

On Friday evening, 20 August, Allen’s wife of 32 years, Angela, was returning home with her three-month-old grandson after dinner with friends. She was stopped by a Dallas Police DWI task force officer for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. After field sobriety tests, Angela was arrested for DWI and endangering a minor, and taken to jail — leaving her traumatized grandchild with officers while his parents came to pick him up.

For context, I was a state-certified law enforcement officer by age 19 and worked as a uniformed officer for four years before graduating college. I have remained active in professional law enforcement associations in all the years since, retaining to this day a law enforcement appointment. In those early years, I made many DWI stops and arrests — not one was overturned for lack of cause or evidence. Here is my assessment of Angela’s arrest.

I have viewed, multiple times, every second of the dash cam and officer body cam videos of the stop and arrest of Angela West, and I have reviewed the other evidence in this case.

I believe, based on the dash cam videos, that the officer was correct in making this traffic stop. West did drift over the sideline of the highway, which could have indicated impaired driving.

That being said, there is nothing, NOTHING, in the remaining videos of the field sobriety tests that would lead me to conclude that Angela West was under the influence of any intoxicant. And given the fact that the breath alcohol analysis completed on the scene, twice, was “inconclusive,” there was no reason — I repeat, NO reason — to further detain Angela West, much less place her under arrest and take her to jail. She complied with all of the officer’s requests and was courteous.

Moreover, the fact that other more senior officers had arrived to assist in this stop, officers who should have known better than to arrest Angela West, raises much greater suspicion that she was unjustly detained and arrested because of political animosity held by the Black officers against Allen.

In an affidavit from the arresting officer, she indicated that Angela West’s appearance was “not crisp” and that her hair “looked ungroomed.” Well, it was dark on the side of a breezy road, so take her to jail? Once in jail, Angela agreed to a blood draw for toxicology screen analysis, a standard procedure.

Following Angela’s arrest, after bringing her home from jail on Saturday, Allen released a video that was, well, 100% what you would expect from a loving husband and “highly pissed off” decorated combat veteran. Knowing well that his wife was not using any alcohol or drug that would have impaired her judgment, he demanded an apology from Dallas Police Chief Edgardo Garcia, who was hired from San Jose, California, in December.

Garcia was quick to defend his officers against Allen West’s “mischaracterization” of this arrest, declaring: “We’re not trying to try this DWI arrest in the media. Mrs. West is entitled to due process.”

Indeed she was, and indeed Garcia was too quick to defend his officers. According to the Dallas district attorney’s review of Angela West’s toxicology report, she had used NO alcohol or drugs — none.

Following the release of that report, Allen declared: “I stand by my assertion that a full apology to my wife Angela is warranted. As well, the full unedited body cam video should be released by the Dallas PD Chief Garcia to the press and the public. My wife’s honor and reputation should have never been assailed.” She is certainly due that apology.

For decades, Patriot Post has provided in-depth analysis about the pandemic of Black-on-Black violence in Democrat-controlled urban centers across our nation — the direct result of generationally-failed Democrat social policies.

We would hope this injustice against Angela West was not a harbinger of racial targeting of prominent Black conservatives by Black officers who are on the opposite end of the political spectrum. To fully dispel that possibility, a full investigation into the background of the arresting officer to exclude any other motives for the arrest, should now be conducted.

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776