Wait for trial to make judgments

I am thoroughly disgusted at the comments made by John DeCarlo, a professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven, regarding the fatal shooting of Mubarak Soulemane in West Haven in 2021. This professor has no right to state that Trooper Brian North made a mistake in this shooting. He has no direct knowledge of what occurred that day and should be ashamed of himself for making such an outlandish statement.

I question why a person in his capacity would make such a statement given that he knows or should know that there are always two sides of a story and only after a full trial will the facts come out and then a judge or jury will hopefully make a fair decision as to what actually happened that day.

John DeCarlo has publicly pronounced Trooper North guilty prior to this trial which is absolutely wrong. He should not be allowed to continue teaching criminal justice at the University of New Haven any longer. I am a graduate of the Criminal Justice Program at UNH and would walk out of any class that he participated in if I was still in the program. I would hope that others at the university feel the same way.

John DeCarlo has also hurt the family of Trooper North and also every state trooper in the state of Connecticut for his uncaring and unsolicited comment. Police officers have a very dangerous job and are routinely placed in life-threatening situations and deserve our utmost respect and support for what they do for us every day.

I can only hope and pray that they do not hesitate to act to save themselves or others when they are placed in these horrendous situations in the future and not criticized by uninformed people who just like to see their names in the newspaper.

Michael J. Sweeney

Madison