LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Clearing Loyd’s arresting officers was wrong

The report exonerating the police officers who punched, kicked and hit Markeith Loyd during his arrest disturbed me (”Officers cleared in Loyd arrest,” June 25).

I am not a protester, nor a Black-rights advocate. But I think it is wrong to condone the police kicking a man (Black or white) in the head while he is crawling on the ground to surrender. They had so many other options to subdue him. They put out his eye while he was on the ground!

They should not be exonerated. And the Orlando Police Department should institute training to prevent this kind of incident.

James H. Coppens Altamonte Springs

Calm, boring presidency would be welcomed

Late-night host Seth Meyers made me laugh out loud with his suggested slogan for Joe Biden: “Elect me president and you will never have to hear from me again!” Wouldn’t that be lovely?

Wouldn’t it be great to wake up in the morning and not have to hear about anything weird or malicious or destructive that the president has done in the last 24 hours?

Wouldn’t it be nice to go back to our own lives and never have to defend the childish outbursts and lack of responsible behavior?

Wouldn’t it be nice to say, “Oh, I don’t follow politics that closely” and not be immediately judged by your entire circle of friends?

Of course, we would still need to follow politics. The price of freedom is to be informed citizens. The only way to have politicians that uphold the public trust is to keep a close watch on what they do, vote responsibly and study the minutiae of laws, but I would also like to have maybe 72 hours, a long weekend, without listening to spin about Trump’s latest gaffe or slur. Imagine the relief of knowing the president is minimally competent to do the work we hired him to do.

Rachael Bowers Orange City

Don’t blame DeSantis for COVID-19 spike

I disagree with key assignments of blame and responsibility in the Editorial Board’s “Reopening will continue to be a bust until everyone gets serious” editorial (June 25).

The Board places far too much blame on Gov. Ron DeSantis for matters far beyond his reasonable jurisdiction. The primary duty toward fighting coronavirus depends upon Florida’s citizens as individuals, by willfully complying with measures they clearly have been asked to follow, and for their local government bodies to subsequently enforce such measures effectively. Therefore, you should not “start, as usual, with DeSantis.”

Brent Kubasta Winter Park