Until this month, it had been more than 30 years since a Syracuse police officer was killed in the line of duty.
Ten days ago, on April 14, two of the city's officers were killed: Syracuse Police Officer Michael Jensen and Onondaga Sheriff Lt. Michael Hoosock.
As one might imagine, the law enforcement community has been grappling with shock and grief. The officer funerals were held in the past few days; Officer Jensen's was on Saturday, and Lt. Hoosock's was on Monday--two days ago.
Joe Biden is scheduled to make a campaign stop in Syracuse on Thursday--tomorrow. Due to the enormous burden a presidential visit places on local law enforcement, the Syracuse police chief and the mayor expressed their concern to the White House about managing this event in the midst of such stress upon their officers. They did not request a postponement, yet it's painfully obvious that basic decency demands one should be offered.
But we're talking about Joe Biden. He's the cold-blooded candidate who recently held a campaign fundraiser in New York City and ignored another murdered officer, Jonathan Diller, who was being mourned the same day in a New York suburb. It would have been an easy limo ride away, especially for a president. After all, there was a former president who made a special trip to pay his respects to Diller. But not Biden. His show must go on. Especially, it appears, if it includes murdered officers.
If you think Biden might delay his hurrah speech in Syracuse for a couple more days, just to be respectful to law enforcement officers, you'd be wrong. He's coming to Syracuse tomorrow as scheduled. The cops will just have to cope.
There are many things I could say about the current occupant of the White House. Most of them I wouldn't want to appear on my pages. But there's one thing I will say with certainty--Joe Biden is not a nice man.
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