Corrects Misleading Statements

First … John Kretz’s [letter of June 25] entitled “Where is the Rest of the Outrage?” 

While Mr. Kretz says he was outraged by George Floyd’s wrongful murder, he then says that “many good people have died at the hands of violent protesters” and mentions Dave Patrick Underwood, a Black law enforcement officer, leading the readers to assume he was killed by violent protesters. Mr. Underwood was indeed murdered, but neither of the two people arrested (Steven Carrillo and Robert Justus) had anything to do with the protests and apparently were part of the extremist “Boogaloo” movement, which is trying to cause a civil war and attack police officers.  In addition, Steve Carrillo is charged with murdering a Santa Cruz County officer.

Second … Yatindra Bhatnagar’s letter [on June 25] entitled “Protests, Chaos and Political Agenda.” This letter is also very misleading. Although the numbers of people killed by the police are accurate, the rate of killing of Whites by police is about 13/million, while for Blacks it’s 31/million (see https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/) – a huge difference.

The reason that the killing of George Floyd has triggered so many protests is the cavalier way he was killed – by a police officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes – and the alleged offense was passing a counterfeit $20 bill. How good or bad a person he was is fairly irrelevant – none of us are saints, but no one deserves to die in such a horrible manner, certainly not for such a minor offense. Our president, while not responsible for this incident, has emboldened attacks on minorities of all kinds by such comments as “very fine people on both sides” referring to the neo-Nazis and protesters in Charlottesville, by his use of “Kung flu” to smear people of Asian descent, by the use of “bad hombres” to refer to criminals and smear people of Hispanic descent, by his other attacks on immigrants (“s-hole countries”), the LGBTQ community (trying to take away health insurance for trans people), Muslims (his Muslim ban), by his support of Confederate monuments, etc. And the action taken by his administration to clear mostly peaceful protesters using pepper spray and rubber bullets so he could have a photo op with a Bible in front of a church (whose clergy was also removed) is despicable. 

Jackie Gish

Glendale

All Lives Matter

Rep. Adam Schiff’s News from Washington (CV Weekly, June 25) was one-sided and misleading. It’s not surprising, though, as in this election year for Mr. Schiff to indulge in political campaigning that for all intents and purpose has gone astray, and has become more racist, divisive and destructive.

Rep. Schiff does not represent only Black voters; he has to think also of Hispanics, Asians and all others who not only live in his own district but all over America. Their lives also matter.

Black Lives Matter protests have gone out of control and are bent upon destroying the nation based on laws, equality, tolerance and justice. Schiff doesn’t condemn it. He doesn’t remind us that Lincoln-led White states fought against other White states to liberate the slaves and gave us the message of freedom, justice and equality and also a great Constitution to live and thrive. He is divisive, not unifying.

As it has become fashionable, Schiff cites isolated examples to bolster his argument. But he forgets that Whites, Asians, Hispanics and several other ethnic groups and people have also been victims of brutalities and discrimination. They did not start riots, they did not burn churches and other buildings and indulge in looting and toppling statues of national heroes. His emphasis was on “police conduct” only ignoring that cops are constantly being made targets of shooting, assaults, condemnation and hate every day. They don’t deserve it.

On the other hand, BLM is waging a terrible class war against everything that this great nation symbolizes. But Schiff supports it.

Claiming inheritance of the great leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, the movement has degenerated into a terrible chaos with rioting, looting, killings, shooting, occupying parts of the cities with no laws, demanding abolition of the police departments and prison system and changing names of cities and states honoring the heroes of this great nation. Their latest target near us was Beverly Hills residential areas.

Mr. Schiff’s underlying support for this kind of a movement is shocking. He looks the other way, like most of his party.

Schiff, it seems, no longer represents the entire district, the entire nation’s inclusive ethos, and panders to one group only. [Of course, I could not find anything significant he has done for Black advancement during his two decades in Congress.] As a politician and a representative of all he should have condemned the current and most racist movement and prove that he cares for everyone with the slogan “All Lives Matter.”

Yatindra Bhatnagar

Tujunga

  Yatindra Bhatnagar