Trump disrespects Capitol police with pardons. But he wants cops to catch illegals? | Opinion
On Monday President Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people charged with crimes when the Jan. 6, 2021 rioting occurred at the U.S. Capitol.
Included in that blanket pardon were hundreds of defendants accused of assaulting police officers. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, “140 police officers were assaulted January 6 at the Capitol, including about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.”
Ninety-nine people were charged with “using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.” But with the stroke of his pen, Trump made those charges vanish.
On Tuesday, Trump’s newly constituted Justice Department “directed federal prosecutors nationwide to investigate and potentially prosecute state and local officials who don’t cooperate with the president’s plans to carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history,” The Washington Post reported.
In other words, if a local police officer, or a police chief, refuse to get involved in deporting undocumented people, Trump’s team could bring charges.
Only in Trump world could such realities exist simultaneously: The obvious disdain for police injured on Jan. 6, the demand that police help with immigration enforcement.
Immigration enforcement
The Justice Department stance was outlined by acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, one of the lawyers in Trump’s New York fraud trial that included porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump was found guilty of falsifying records, a felony.
In Bove’s directive, he writes that the “Supremacy Clause and other authorities require state and local actors to comply with the Executive Branch’s immigration enforcement initiatives.”
The Supremacy Clause is a part of the Constitution that says federal law will take precedence over state law. Bove is arguing that Trump’s deportation effort must be followed, even by state and local officials. Those who refuse — or even don’t cooperate — can be prosecuted.
Note the word “actors.” That can certainly mean local law enforcement officers. But what if the Justice Department applies it more broadly? Will school principals and teachers be considered “actors”?
How about Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, the former police chief? He just took part in the city’s annual MLK Day parade and spoke of his admiration for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
As reported by Bee Opinion Editor Juan Esparza Loera, Dyer said this: “We need more people like Dr. Martin Luther King, who had a vision for equality. A man who chose to not judge people but to love people.
“And that’s the mayor I choose to be in this city — to judge less and love more.”
What will “loving more” look like if Dyer gets orders from immigration officers looking to deport residents? It could be a testing time for the mayor.
Pardoning test
Indeed, the pressure-test of the Trump administration on America is just starting. The nation’s police got an early stress-check with Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons.
The National Association of Police Organizations reacted to the pardons, saying in a statement, that “those who commit violent assaults on law enforcement officers should not benefit from a pardon.”
As with many of the president’s initial executive orders, the Justice Department directive is destined for the courts.
