Perhaps the most powerful moment at either the Republican or Democrat convention was the 5 minute speech delivered by Ann Dorn, widow of David Dorn, the retired police captain gunned down by rioters in St. Louis. In the short address on the final night of the RNC, Ann described the events of that fateful night in May. To hear it from her perspective is to understand that the term “rioting” is not an abstract concept but an actual human tragedy and injustice that destroys the lives of real people.
We should pay special attention to Ann’s explanation as to how her elderly husband ended up downtown late at night during violent riots. She explained that David was a longtime friend of the owner of a pawnshop and had agreed to oversee security for the store as a favor. As the city descended into chaos, David decided to go to the store to keep the looters away. One of the looters, carrying a stolen television, shot Dorn dead. His dying moments were live streamed on Facebook.
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