May 4 Letters to the Editor: Our Readers’ Opinions

Police had no good option

The latest police shooting of a Black person, Ma’Khia Bryant, left me very sad. I have three children of my own and I know how devastated I would be if one of them had their life cut short by being shot while still in their teens. I have great sympathy for the parents of this young woman.

Having said that, however, the Bryant shooting illustrates the cleft stick the police are in with this sort of situation. I watched the video of the incident on television this morning. You could clearly see this young woman holding not only just a knife but also a very large knife. She appeared to be going after one or more other young women and she could easily have killed or severely injured one or more of them.

The police had a duty to protect the people this young woman was actively pursuing with this knife. She was bearing down on them and appeared to be extremely close to them. ...

Had the police not taken action, she might have stabbed and killed one or more of her intended victims. ...

The police were very much in a no-win situation. It is too bad they could not have deployed a Taser on her but they fired a gun instead. The problem is that, in the heat of the moment, you can’t always sit down and think through things. The whole matter was a tragedy but I don’t personally blame the police for this one. ...

Danny Radakovich

Lewiston

Justice denied

Does anyone remember habeas corpus and due process? Do we just allow a lying government to claim someone is a terrorist and toss him into the American Gulag?

Those patriots who marched on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 are not insurrectionists nor terrorists. ...

They are American citizens rightfully concerned about an obviously stolen election.

They killed no one. Despite media lies to the contrary, they did not attack and beat the life out of a security guard with a fire extinguisher. What little physical damage was done is linked to agent provocateurs with ties to Black Lives Matter and Antifa.

Yet the full weight and power of the government can be unleashed only by labeling you as an insurrectionist. Then it can invade your home, deny you bail and put you in solitary confinement.

These American citizens are being denied their rights under the Constitution. If that’s not disturbing enough, the deafening silence from the (so-called) conservative senators and congressmen exhibits their cowardice. Our leaders are playing along with Deep State police powers normally associated with the Gestapo, KBG or other secret groups.

Of course, we should punish those responsible for the destruction of our Capitol and for the violence that was perpetrated by a very few. But those dozens of citizens who have been sanctioned as terrorists and held without bond for the mere act of entering the U.S. Capitol in protest of a sham election should be released and allowed due process on the claims.

Dennis Fuller

Orofino