VOTE: Are politicians and protestors partly to blame over NYC cops’ execution?

There’s been animosity between police and certain members of the community long before Saturday’s slaying of 2 New York City police officers sitting in their patrol car in Brooklyn.

The Saturday incident – which has served to heighten safety precautions among uniformed police officers in their day to day dealings with the public – has become the tipping point in a battle that some politicians and protestors have had with police over recent grand jury decisions in Missouri and Staten Island.

One need not look any further than the slaying of Lakewood police officer Christopher Matlosz at the hands of Jahmell Crockam back in 2011. – the reason being that Crockam vowed he’d shoot a police officer before going back to prison.

Again, shooting a police officer – any officer.

Unfortunatly that officer happened to be Matlosz.

Probably even more relevant is the slaying of State Patrolman Werner Foerster in 1973 at the hands of former Black Liberation Army member Joanne Chesimard – who, since breaking out of jail in 1979, had been living in Cuba.

This has been a bone of contention with members of the New Jersey State Police, and particularly with Governor Christie, who called out the President against restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba until Chesimard is returned to New Jersey.

But while protestors have taken to the streets, incidents of violence aimed at police and the tepid response of elected officials such as NYC Mayor deBlasio have only heightened tensions – particularly the mayor’s statement that “a small group of protesters allegedly assaulted some members of the NYPD” last week.

This led NYC PBA President Patrick Lynch to declare the mayor and protesters all have “blood on their hands” over the execution of the 2 police officers.

Protestors, however misguided they may be, still have the right to protest peacefully. It’s when elected leaders convey the implied message that one needs to be wary of the police that legitimizes more acts of violence.

The gunman who killed the 2 police officers, 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, vowed to do so online in retaliation for the police chokehold death of Eric Garner.

And while you can’t take some of the protestors’ and mayor’s apparent attitudes out of the equation – the fact is that there’s been a war going on for some time against police – and the person with the most blood on his hands in this latest incident has already taken his own life.