Letters

I’m a military veteran. I’m tired of seeing videos of racist cops who can’t control themselves attacking Black and minority civilians. This needs to stop now.

The Black Lives Matter movement is right: Police treat non-white people very differently from white criminals, and too often that difference results in death.

As if the systemic racism of our criminal justice system wasn’t bad enough, now these thugs of the state are armed to the teeth with weapons like the ones I used and saw in the military. This is thanks to a Pentagon program called 1033, which sells surplus military gear to civilian police departments.

Why does my local police department need a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle? Does Main Street, USA, have a mine problem that I’m not aware of?

No, but too many of our police departments have a culture of violence that permeates through the ranks. Whenever we hear about another unarmed Black man killed by police, we hear the usual refrain from the Blue Lives Matter crowd: “He was just one bad apple.” Well, the whole phrase is: “One bad apple spoils the barrel.” As long as the thin blue line continues to cover up for each other’s crimes, they can’t be trusted with military gear.

We need to demilitarize our streets and change the culture of policing entirely. First, the Pentagon should end the 1033 program immediately before more war machines are used against American civilians.

Visit Common Defense to learn more: commondefense.us.

Vasco Garnett

Hampton Bays