LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Police were right to arrest protesters

As a child growing up you are taught at an early age from your parents and teachers to obey the laws and always listen and respect what a police officer tells you. Sounds simple right? If an officer tells you to put on your seat belt, you do it; if an officer tells you to turn down your loud music, you do it; if an officer tells you to get out of the street because you are blocking traffic and disturbing the peace, you do it.

Well, most adults would, however that was not the case this past weekend in the streets of Downtown Stamford after a protest/march took place. Once the protest ended, the police advised the attendees to disperse because the event had ended. Unfortunately several of the attendees decided they were not done and felt they had the right to walk into busy streets and continue to do as they wish. Clearly this is not legal and no one is above the law, isn’t that what most of these protests are all about?

The Stamford Police made it very clear that if the people did not stop their actions they would be arrested. So back to being a kid and listening to my parents and teachers this would have been an easy decision to make; now as an adult, stop or go to jail, most if not all adults would choose stop over jail. But not these people, they clearly felt they were above the law and pushed the police to finally take action and clear the streets and we are thankful they did.

Night after night we see what is happening in cities across the country with looting, rioting, assaults and murders taking place. Who is to say that would not have happened this past weekend if the police did not step in? I want to say thank you to Chief Shaw, Captain Hohn and the men and women officers who cleared the streets that day as peacefully as possible while agitators insulted them, disobeyed direct orders and injured several officers.

Stamford is a great city and our police officers work hard to keep us safe, they deserve a thank you from all of us — keep up the good work.

Patrick Sasser Stamford