Cruz Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: CRUZ: Law-Enforcement Officers 'Deliver Us from Evil'

HOUSTON, Texas – Today Presidential Candidate Ted Cruz penned the following op-ed in National Review to thank police officers for their service on National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (LEAD).

"Law enforcement forms a thin but powerful line protecting us not just from violent criminals, but from terrorists on our own soil. In the case of Garland, Texas, Islamic terrorists could have taken unknown numbers of lives if it were not for the brave traffic officer who stopped their attempted attack."

Below is an excerpt and the full op-ed may be viewed here.

On Thursday evening, Edward Archer approached Philadelphia Police Officer Jesse Hartnett and proceeded to shoot at him 13 times. Friday morning, he professed to have done so in the name of Islam and it's reported that he has pledged his allegiance to ISIS.

This violent attempt to murder a law-enforcement officer is in keeping with ISIS's ongoing effort to attack those whose job it is to keep America safe, as we have seen in Fort Hood, Boston, and Chattanooga.

Yet in the wake of another attack in the name of radical Islamic terrorism, it is unfortunate that we have already seen so many officials bow down to political correctness rather than recognize the existential threat of radical Islamic terrorism to our very way of life.

We must defeat radical Islamic terrorism, and that starts by calling it by its name. And we must stand with law enforcement against those who seek to do us harm.

The same night that Officer Hartnett was shot in Philadelphia, terrorist suspects were arrested in Sacramento and Houston with the help of state and local law enforcement. These events underscore just how essential our officers are in keeping Americans safe and free.

Law enforcement forms a thin but powerful line protecting us not just from violent criminals, but from terrorists on our own soil. In the case of Garland, Texas, Islamic terrorists could have taken unknown numbers of lives if it were not for the brave traffic officer who stopped their attempted attack.

We must thank every officer for their service, not make excuses for the terrorists trying to kill them. Saturday is National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (LEAD). It is an opportunity to stand emphatically with our police force and to express our gratitude for their bravery, especially in a national climate that has been hostile towards our men and women in blue.

By contrast, not only does President Obama refuse to call radical Islamic terrorism by its name, he has also perpetrated a national movement to vilify the very officers who keep our communities safe from this threat. He has nominated an individual to a top Department of Justice post who had represented and lionized a cop killer, and in 2015, he said "There are some police who aren't doing the right thing." He continued, "We can't just leave this to the police," suggesting that he should stand as the judge and jury in convicting police officers.

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I am reminded of the memorial service I attended a few months ago in my hometown of Houston for Deputy Darren Goforth, an officer who was shot while he was at a gas station. At the service, thousands of officers dressed in blue filled the sanctuary. Dr. Ed Young, the pastor of Second Baptist Church, powerfully observed that in the Old Testament the Levites, the priests, wore blue. And he drew from the Lord's Prayer to describe the core mission of police, and in particular, one phrase in the Lord's Prayer: "Deliver us from evil." That is the mission statement of our police — to deliver us from evil in the most horrifying moments of our lives.

So today, and every day, let us stand unequivocally with the brave men and women of law enforcement and thank them for their service. And let's ensure that we remain safe by honoring our blue heroes with the respect and gratitude they deserve.