Opinion: Stanton cracked on police response to Phoenix Trump protest

The circus that was Wednesday’s Phoenix City Council meeting was brought to you exclusively by Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.

I was lucky enough to be a part of KTAR News’ wall-to-wall live coverage of President Donald Trump’s visit here to the Valley last Tuesday.

Jim Sharpe and I were live on air. Tyler Bassett, Carter Nacke, Corbin Carson and Tom Perumean were on the scene. We had this thing covered.

We watched and listened as smoke started to fill the streets. We watched and discussed the professionalism and bravery of the men and women in uniform that night. We weren’t alone in our praise and admiration, either.

Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams, Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone, and yes, Stanton, all commented about the wonderful job that the police did that night.

Then Phoenix’s mayor started to get some heat from his pals on the left for praising the police and their actions.

Buckling under pressure from his supporters, he allowed protesters to speak for hours during a city council meeting this week.

And speak they did.

Did the mayor open the meeting with the same high praise that he had just a week prior for our men and women in uniform? No, no he did not.

This was either a missed opportunity by Stanton or an open nod for anger, yelling and discourse for the rest of the evening.

I’m going to go with the latter of the two.

If Stanton and his Democratic pals on the council did not want this meeting to turn into a circus, they could’ve done what we do in the media all of the time.

Go to the tape!

They could’ve opened with a timeline of events from the evening, they could’ve open with video of the events of the evening. Both a timeline and a video would clearly show protesters actively, violently and aggressively engaging the police officers on the front line.

But you and I both know that that would not have mattered. These protesters came with one thing on their mind: disruption. And there would be no mountain of evidence contrary to their point that would keep them from causing that disruption.

Because this is what the far left has created. It doesn’t matter if you are on the right or the left. Look at the evolution of not only protesting, but the treatment of our police officers over the past 10 years.

You will see a drastic increase in violence, destruction, vandalism, disobedience, blatant disregard for the law and hatred towards police.

Of course, those that are offended by that statement will immediately draw the civil rights movement card from the deck and wave it in my face.

Those that protested and fought for civil rights for black people in this country were fighting for a cause worth fighting for, and that’s real justice, not this social justice nonsense.

This new batch of slappies isn’t protesting for a real cause at all! They’re protesting a president they don’t like. A president they think is mean.

In my opinion, the product of the wussification of America. But that’s an entirely different blog.

Now, back to the meeting.

What exactly were these clowns screaming about? They are claiming that police mishandled the situation and used unnecessary force. They are screaming for an independent investigation. Once again, no matter what the current facts may show.

They want an investigation into a police action that resulted in a whopping zero injuries that required a visit to the hospital.

Toughen up, buttercups!

Here’s a solution that I think we should look into: We know the facts side with the police, yet the crybabies want an independent investigation.

I propose they go out and hire an investigative team on their own dime to investigate the actions of the police on the night of the protests and then submit their findings to the council at a future time.

Now, I’m pretty sure that I am in the vast majority of Phoenicians that would say they are not willing to pay for an independent investigation.

Now, however, Stanton has painted himself into a corner. We’ll see if he does what’s right or orders an investigation.

Follow @GOMikeRussell