Police Lives Matter
Twenty-one law enforcement personnel have been murdered this year.
This past weekend another senseless shooting claimed the life of a Louisiana State Police trooper during a traffic stop. According to USA Today, Senior Trooper Steven Vincent “was shot in the head and then taunted when he stopped to provide aid to a man whose truck was stuck in a ditch.” The details of the cold-blooded murder will make your blood boil: “Col. Mike Edmonson, head of the State Police, said Kevin Daigle shot … Vincent, then said, ‘You’re lucky, you are going to die soon.’ Edmonson said Vincent, 43, drove up on Kevin Daigle near Bell City on Sunday afternoon and then determined that his pickup’s plates matched the description of a previously reported ‘reckless vehicle.’ Edmonson said a recording from Vincent’s cruiser shows Vincent was talking with Daigle when he opened his door, pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and shot Vincent in the head.” He succumbed to those injuries early Monday, and Daigle now faces first-degree murder and aggravated battery charges. The Washington Post adds, “According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, the most accurate public count of police officers killed each year, Vincent is the 21st on-duty police officer killed by gunfire from a suspect.” Some officers indisputably abuse their authority, but the reality is that all of them put their lives on the line every time they put on a uniform. And until America comes to realize that all lives matter — regardless of race — police officers whose lives are recklessly taken won’t get the attention they deserve. RIP, Officer Vincent.