Ann Dorn, the widow of slain former St. Louis police chief David Dorn, delivered a gut-wrenching plea for peace on the final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday.
"As I slept, looters were ransacking the shop; they shot and killed David in cold blood, and then live streamed his execution and his last moments on Earth," Ann Dorn said, recounting the night she lost her husband. "David's grandson was watching the video on Facebook in real time, not realizing he was watching his own grandfather dying on the sidewalk."
Ann Dorn could not stop her tears as she paused to gather herself from the pain of her loss June 2, when David Dorn, a retired Black former police chief, was killed trying to protect a business from rioters and looters.
"I relive that horror in my mind every single day," she said. "My hope is that having you relive it with me now will help shake this country from this nightmare we are witnessing in our cities and bring about positive, peaceful change.
"How did we get to this point where so many young people are callous and indifferent toward human life? This isn't a video game where you can commit mayhem and then just hit reset and bring all the characters back to life.
"Dave is never, never coming back to me. He was murdered by people who didn't know, and just didn't care, he would have done anything to help them."
Ann Dorn added a rejection of the Black Lives Matter-led protests leading to violence in the name of social injustice causes.
"Violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protest," she concluded. "They do not safeguard Black lives. They only destroy them.
"President Trump understands this; he has offered federal help to restore order in our communities in a time when police departments are short on resources and manpower. We need that help. We should accept that help.
"We must heal before we can expect change, but we cannot heal amid devastation and chaos. President Trump knows we need more Davids in our communities, not fewer. We need to come together in peace and remember that every life is precious."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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