In her letter to the editor (April 24), Mary Jane Newell wrote that today’s Democrats “… are tearing the country apart by creating previously unknown problems, such as racism …”

Seriously? I didn’t see any news articles used as sources for her opinions, so here are a couple that counter her point.

On Aug. 9, 1997, police officers arrested Haitian immigrant Abner Louima. After yanking his pants down to his knees in the Brooklyn precinct bathroom, Officer Justin Volpe used a broken broomstick to sexually assault the handcuffed man. He was left bleeding on the floor of a cell and spent two months in the hospital after surgery for internal injuries. Word of the attack shocked the city and Louima would eventually testify in a federal trial that sent two officers to prison.

On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was caught by Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally while amateur cameraman George Holiday caught it all on videotape. The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive force by a police officer. However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots. On the third day of the riots, King made a public appearance and made his now famous plea: “People, I just want to say, can’t we all get along? Can’t we all get along?”

Newell should give that a try.

Yvon Bourgault, Jay

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