President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued defending the honor of police officers and law enforcement officials around the country at a White House event.
“They’re heroes. And they’re being very unfairly treated over the last long period of time, but over the last few years,” Trump said at the opening of a White House ceremony. “It’s terrible what’s happening.”
The president put the spotlight on law enforcement officials who heroically saved lives.
One woman, Susan Young, spoke about how trained law enforcement officers helped recover their 15-year-old daughter who was trafficked by MS-13 gang members.
“The law enforcement is crucial to the rescue, to victims of human trafficking, and I believe we should support them with everything we have,” she said during the event.
One mother told the story of how Berkeley County Deputy William Kimbro performed life-saving CPR on her 12-day-old baby after stopping for speeding after the child stopped breathing.
The story and the bodycam footage of the event went viral online.
Deputy Kimbro is now the child’s godfather.
The president also heard the story of off-duty Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputy Corey Reece, who helped stop an attempted kidnapping of Jakebia Northcutt’s young son at a hotel.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come help me,” Northcutt said to Deputy Reece. “So I just want to thank you.”
Trump praised Reece’s “natural instinct” for leaping into action.
One mother, Sara Bohon, spoke about how police helped find her autistic son Spencer after he climbed out of his bedroom window and wandered into the woods.
“He is autistic, nonverbal, and doesn’t really have sense of danger,” she said about her son. “So when he goes missing, it’s like life or death. You got to find him as fast as you possibly can.”
Thanks to the quick reaction of the local police and their canine units, the child was found within 12 minutes.
Rhonda Norris told the story of how a Delaware off-duty officer helped rescue her after she was in a car wreck.
“I was in and out of consciousness and he continuously urged me to stay awake and stay with him — very soothing, very calm — and was calling on his radio for an ambulance and first responders, which — his being there sped up the process dramatically,” she recalled.
She noted that the officer gathered her personal belongings, met her husband at the hospital and stayed with him until the medical tests were completed.
“The most amazing thing to me about this state trooper is that he was off duty,” she said. “He didn’t have to do any of that.”
Kenneth Bearden revealed he had overdosed over 30 times on drugs during his life and police officers were there at least a dozen times to help save his life.
“My son gets to have his dad today because of that,” he said.
Bearden is now six years sober and works for Addiction Recovery Care to help addicts get treatment.
“I get to help others along the way because of police officers, because of the people who have helped me along the way,” he said. “And I’m truly grateful to be here.”
Trump said he would continue highlighting stories of police officers who were heroically helping people in their communities, while the radical left continued to attack them.
“Our officers have been under vicious assault, and hundreds of police have been injured and several murdered,” Trump said, recalling recent stories in the news. “Reckless politicians have defamed our law enforcement heroes as ‘the enemy.'”