​Bucks County PA and Beyond: Peaceful Protest YES! Violence No!

Bucks County PA and Beyond...Peaceful protest YES! Violence No! Freedom of Speech YES!

Bensalem police say looters tried to break into the Sears at the Neshaminy Mall on Sunday.
County law enforcement said Monday they are prepared to handle any civil unrest that may occur following looting and riots during George Floyd protests in Philadelphia.
“Not only are we prepared, we’ve been dealing with isolated incidents all weekend,” Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub said Monday morning.

Peaceful Protest YES! Violence No! Freedom of Speech YES!

I don’t want violence! The police officers who killed George Floyd should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!

David Dorn, a retired St. Louis police captain, was shot and killed last night while trying to protect a local store from looters. Horrific video footage showed that he died in front of Lee’s Pawn & Jewelry on Martin Luther King Drive.

It’s popular right now among many celebrities, politicians, and media types to excuse, ignore, and sometimes outright glorify the violence happening on our streets. To them, it isn’t real life—it’s a movie playing out in somebody else’s backyard.

The people who live in these communities don’t want violence. George Floyd’s own family, grieving the unjust death of their loved one, pleaded with protesters to be peaceful. “Don’t tear up your town. All of this is not necessary because if his own family and blood is not doing it, then why are you?” Floyd’s brother said.

“My brother wasn’t about that. My brother was about peace.”

Now is the time for all of us to listen. It is the stories from outside Washington, from American communities, that go untold amid the cable TV feuds and misleading headlines.

Here are just a few of those stories:

• Minneapolis woman with a disability in tears after seeing her community torn apart

• African-American store owner condemns rioters in New York, saying “look what they did to my store”
• NYPD officers being attacked openly on the streets
• Local mom-and-pop shop destroyed in the Bronx, crushing a family’s years’ worth of work in just minutes

• Multiple black-owned businesses destroyed in Philadelphia

• Molotov cocktail thrown into an NYPD vehicle

Innocent people getting hurt or killed should matter to everyone. So should the small businesses and neighborhoods that have been torched or looted by rioters.

The real pain being felt in Bucks County and Pennsylvania isn’t a distraction from injustice—it is injustice.

I pray (“Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.” Proverbs 3:2) you will join with me in condemning those looting, burning down buildings and businesses and killing innocent people, including police officers. We need to stand up and not look on idly as our neighborhoods are destroyed by criminals.

The police officers who killed George Floyd should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. All political leaders including the mayors and governors turning a blind eye to violence have a responsibility to protect every single person in their communities.

Pray for peace and pursue the Word of God! “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.” Psalm 11:5)