Left-wing CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Dallas Police Chief David Brown if it was necessary to kill Micah Xavier Johnson – the left-wing mass murderer who targeted police officers on Thursday night – during an interview that aired on Sunday’s State of the Union.
Despite acknowledging that law enforcement had “every right and ability” to use lethal force to end a mass murder attack, Tapper still asked if Johnson’s life could have been saved.
“I want to just ask briefly about the decision to use this bomb robot which you said that you would make the same decision again. As you know, it’s prompted a lot of discussion among law enforcement officials about whether or not there should be some sort of discussion nationwide about the use of this type of robot. Just to ask a question about this – could something else have been used other than a bomb that would have killed the shooter? Obviously, in a situation like that, law enforcement has every right and ability to take out the shooter ay way he can, but could for instance, some sort of riot gas been used instead of something that killed the gunman?” asked Tapper.
Brown dismissed Tapper’s relaying of alleged controversy over the decision to use lethal force to stop Johnson.
“I just don’t give much quarter to critics who ask these types of questions from the comfort and safety away from the incident. You have to be on the ground and try and determine… I’ve got former SWAT experience here in Dallas, and you have to trust your people to make the calls necessary to save their lives. It’s their lives that are at stake, not these critics’ lives who are in the comforts of their homes or offices. So, that’s not worth my time to debate at this point. We believe that we saved lives by making this decision,” replied Brown.
Brown later elaborated on the heroism and bravery he witnessed from his fellow officers during the attack. Police officers placed themselves in peril to protect others.
“So I want to spend a lot of time talking about what I’ve learned about these officers. They’re brave. They’re courageous. They did things that are just hard to describe. We’re learning that officers exposed themselves to draw fire so they could determine what floor this suspect was on. Expose themselves! And you saw of footage of officers running toward gunfire. Extraordinary acts of bravery, countless officers returning fire, knowing that they’re vulnerable, trying to get to wounded and injured citizens and officers to get them rushed to the hospitals, try to save their lives,” said Brown.
Despite the awful events of Thursday night, all police officers showed up for work on Friday.
“The day after this incident occurred, I looked at the daily rolls to see who comes to work. Everyone came to work the next day. Who does that, Jake? In the face of their lives being at stake the previous day, you’d think you’d have some call in and say, “Maybe that’s not for me.’ Everyone came to work that next day, and I’m just proud to be associated with these people. I stay humble,” said Brown.
In a later segment, Tapper asked New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton and Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson – two left-wing Democrats – if a “national discussion” was necessary to set a standard for the use of lethal force to take out active mass murderers.
Watch the full interview below.
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