Police, weapons of war are not a good mix
Photos of protest movements most often have police lined up with military gear, tear gas and often with military vehicles. They appear to be using the tactics of dictatorships. Of course, that unfortunately brings out the protester’s anger, which is then accompanied by those who light fires, break windows and damage other property.
I’ve seen a couple of protests where police chiefs join the marches, and usually in those cases, the violence doesn’t erupt. I’m afraid that the situation started with the military offering excess war equipment to police when overseas conflicts died down. That apparently pumped up police, and they used that equipment, whether or not it was needed.
I think we still need police, and we need them to put their guns in their holsters, and act like protectors of the people and businesses instead of paramilitary aching for a fight. Let’s return to sanity and not follow the example of dictators.
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Thomas Fellrath
Sierra Vista
Playing politics
with people’s lives
This has been a turbulent year to say the least. Most, if not all, of us have been impacted by at least one event: be it the virus, the disastrous storms or the unrest in our communities and in the world — all being fostered by a variety of events. I’ve never been in battle, but I guess I’m feeling some semblance of battle fatigue. There are so many people working extremely hard to address our challenges and to them I say, “thank you.”
Unfortunately, there are some who see opportunity to use these events for political gain. I try to imagine how different our situation would be if this was not an election year. Then again, perhaps there would be little difference.
Playing politics with people’s lives is criminal. We, the people, deserve better than this.
Guy Brunt
West side
If animals can’t cross wall, neither can humans
I read a recent published letter that made a lot of sense about how the border wall can save migrant lives by acting as a deterrent. The writer noted that almost all of illegal immigration is done in between the ports of entry. Another letter rightly noted that jaguars, of which only a handful have been spotted since the 1990s, have 62 miles of open land to cross on the Tohono O’odham reservation that has no wall.
But here comes another anti-wall article by the Daily Star’s Curt Prendergast about wildlife not being able to cross because of the wall.
He wrote, “Until recently, those animals could have walked under or through the head-high barriers set up in the valley in 2008 to stop smugglers from driving drug-laden vehicles across the border.” Well, those vehicle barriers do not stop groups of illegal immigrants and backpacking drug smugglers from walking through. Prendergast inadvertently showed that if the wall prevents animals from crossing, then it should for humans too.
Teddy Francisco
Three Points