Democrats should stop using fallen police as PR opportunities

A second major Democratic politician has been turned away from a police officer’s funeral, showing that these politicians can’t make police the enemies of their political movement while also using them for photo-ops or PR opportunities when they are killed in the line of duty.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tried to attend the funeral of slain police officer Luis Huesca this week, pushing forward with plans to attend despite it being made clear he wasn’t welcome only to back out at the last minute (or, more accurately, the last 60 minutes, only respecting the family’s wishes one hour before the funeral began). When it came time to answer questions about the man who killed Huesca, Johnson literally ran and hid from reporters.

Johnson’s track record with police has been clear. He supported defunding the police and has made it harder for police to locate and arrest violent criminals. Johnson views police as a problem to be dealt with, not people who keep residents safe, which is why he wants them removed from schools and why he was “personally devastated” that a man who tried to murder police officers was shot and killed by police. Going from that to trying to shoehorn himself into a funeral for a murdered police officer for a photo-op over the objections of the officer’s family seems less than ideal.

He isn’t the only one to have a similar experience this year. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) was confronted at the wake of slain police officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed by a career criminal with 21 prior arrests who was out on the streets thanks to New York’s pro-criminal reforms. Both incidents are reminiscent of officers turning their backs on Johnson’s predecessor, Lori Lightfoot, when she visited a hospital after two officers were shot (and one killed) against the wishes of the family and when former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio received the same treatment at the funeral for a murdered police officer.

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These Democratic politicians and others have made police officers’ jobs more difficult by hamstringing their ability to arrest criminals and keep them behind bars, by contributing to the demonization of police to please anti-police activists, or both. To then turn around and try and use fatal shootings of police officers into photo-ops or PR opportunities to show off how professional they think they are and how much importance they think their title confers on them is a disgrace.

If Johnson or Hochul don’t want to be embarrassed in this fashion, they could try actually supporting police officers against anti-police activists who smear them as racists and allowing officers to do their jobs to keep people safe. Until then, they should stop trying to have it both ways by helping activists disparage officers and then trying to promote themselves at police funerals to improve their image.