After sustaining head injuries following an attempt to break up a bar fight in South Carolina, off duty Sgt. Mathew Mainieri, aged 41, was pronounced dead on Sunday, September 2.
Manieri, an officer of South Windsor Police Department in Connecticut, was on vacation at Uncle Tito's, near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, when a seemingly typical bar fight broke out. Kelton Jess Todd, 21, struck Mainieri with lethal blows and is currently only being charged with assault, but according to the sheriff's office, "more serious charges are pending."
Hundreds, if not thousands, of police officers have been killed in the United States in recent years, most of them separate and historical cases. in 1992, a similar case to Mainieri's involved Officer Paul Heidelberger. After helping to break up a fight in Queens, Heidelberger was shot in the back of the head and neck.
Police fatalities are virtually unavoidable, as these men and women put their lives at risk daily to serve and protect their country and comunities. They are honored for their unwavering bravery and courage by many; however, there are many millions of Ameircans who do not appreciate police officers for who they are and what they do. They're not to blame for this, as they usually see the negative side of things. The media covers interpretatively racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, etc shootings, depicting the police force as an egregious establishment of hateful persons. This is one way in which the mainstream media's bias affects beliefs of the people.
The point of this commentary is not to vilify the press, as nearly every media outlet is biased. Rather, it is to teach the American to review his or her information, to read news published by both left and right wing channels, and to be open to arguments from both sides.
Fox News article can be found at: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/09/03/connecticut-police-officer-killed-in-south-carolina-trying-to-break-up-fight.html
This really gives me something to think about. These men and women risk so much to keep us safe and we barely appreicate their service.
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