Editor,

Let’s step back for a moment and consider where this Black Lives Matter movement is taking us. Listening to various tweets of so called celebrities such as LeBron James, whose celebrity is based on the terrific dribbling of a basketball. Well, wahoo for him. He doesn’t know the first thing about policing. He makes 10 times more money in one game than 100 of our brave men and women police officers who put their lives on the line each and every day they step out the door make in a year.

And not a darn peep when one of them gives up the lives.

Don’t Blue Lives matter as well? Nobody seems to care. Let’s stop and consider one fact that nobody seems to consider — it is a crime, almost without exception, that preceded someone being shot.

Failure to obey a police officer’s order to “let me see your hands,” “keep your hands us,” “you have a warrant,” “don’t turn around,” “drop the gun/knife,” “turn around,” “get out of the car,” “step back,” etc. I could go on.

If the orders were complied with there would have been no confrontation or shooting, either justified or not.

I certainly do not condone in the slightest the rare egregious police action, but stop and think just what precipitated the action in first place.

Maybe try riding along during the night shift in a big city. Only the brave “blue line” can do that job day in and day out. Give thanks to our fine Oak Harbor police and Island County sheriff’s Departments for the jobs they do protecting us.

I sure don’t see anybody running around saying “stop committing crimes.”

Getting rid of or reducing police forces is not the answer. Reducing crime is the obvious answer.

On another note, “let’s take away guns” seems to be the liberal cry right now. Let’s take away the criminals instead and keep them where they belong.

Nobody seems up in arms about the looting and rioting under a non-peaceful Back Lives Matter protest, often destroying the homes, stores and livelihood of law abiding folks, many of whom are African Americans just trying to make a living. Our anger is misdirected. Let’s correct it.

Fred Stilwell

Oak Harbor