Protesters reportedly shouting slogans like “Death to the police!” showed up to the Los Angeles area hospital treating two law enforcement officers who were ambushed and shot on Saturday.
“To the protesters blocking the entrance [and] exit of the HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM yelling ‘We hope they die’ referring to 2 LA Sheriff’s ambushed today in #Compton: DO NOT BLOCK EMERGENCY ENTRIES [AND] EXITS TO THE HOSPITAL. People’s lives are at stake when ambulances can’t get through,” the LA County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Twitter early Sunday morning.
A local faith leader who was at the hospital told a KABC reporter that the protesters tried to get into the emergency room.
“They were saying ‘Death to the police’ and ‘Kill the police,’ and these are sheriffs, but the message is still the same. They were using all types of curse words and derogatory terms,” he told KABC. “Unacceptable behavior, because a hospital should be a sanctuary.”
The officers are being treated at St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, Calif., the Long Beach Press-Telegram reported.
Franklin Graham Commented via Facebook: Such evil. In what is being called an ambush attack, a man approached an LA County sheriff patrol car and opened fire on the two officers inside. Both were shot in the head and are hospitalized, fighting for their lives. One deputy is a 24 yr-old man and the other is a 31 yr-old woman with a 6 yr-old son.
But that’s not all. Anti-police protesters blocked the entrance and exit to the hospital emergency room where the deputies were taken—they were yelling “We hope they die,” “Death to the police,” and other sick messages. One man was heard threatening, “Y’all gone die one by one…this ain’t gonna stop.”
Pray for these officers, their families, and the medical staff treating them today. And pray for the protection of our law enforcement who are faithfully serving amidst this kind of hatred.
Video posted online showed protesters being prevented from walking farther onto hospital grounds and arguing with hospital security over whether the hospital is public or private property.
Protesters could be heard shouting at one officer who appeared to point some sort of weapon at the protesters.
“That’s why you’re dying one by one, you stupid f—s,” a man can be heard saying. “Y’all gonna die one by one. This ain’t gonna stop.”
“You’re next with the f—— hot pocket,” a man shouted.
“I want to deliver a message to the family of the [inaudible]: I hope they f—— die,” a man yelled.
Law enforcement arrested one man and one woman, who was later identified as a member of the press, amid the protests.
A local radio reporter was also apparently arrested amid the chaos. County Undersheriff Tim Murakami said he was looking into the arrest, according to a reporter with KPCC Public Radio. In an update, he said the reporter was being released but would be charged with a misdemeanor.
The sheriff’s office later confirmed an adult female, who was later identified as a member of the press, was arrested. Authorities did not immediately identify the woman.
She had run toward deputies while a male protester was being arrested for failing to comply with dispersal orders at the hospital, the sheriff’s office said. While the man struggled with deputies, the sheriff’s office said the woman ignored repeated commands to stay back and interfered with the arrest.
The woman had not identified herself as a member of the press, according to the sheriff’s office, and later admitted she did not have proper press credentials on her person.
The deputies, a 24-year-old man and a 31-year-old woman, were both in critical condition and “fighting for their lives” as they underwent surgery following the attack, which occurred around 7 p.m. local time outside a Metro rail station in Compton, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“Moments ago, 2 of our Sheriff Deputies were shot in Compton and were transported to a local hospital,” the department tweeted. “They are both still fighting for their lives, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
The deputies were out of surgery by 11 p.m. PT, according to KABC-TV.
President Trump, who held a rally in Nevada on Saturday night, responded on Twitter after the sheriff’s department tweeted out a grainy video that shows the suspect approaching the parked patrol vehicle and firing shots inside the vehicle’s passenger-side window.
“Animals that must be hit hard!” Trump wrote, referring to criminals who target law enforcement.
Both deputies were sworn in just over a year ago and the female deputy is the mother of a 6-year-old boy, officials said in a 10 p.m. news conference. Both of their families were rallying around them at the hospital.
Sheriff Alex Villanueva said while authorities don’t have a detailed suspect description, one of the deputies described the shooter as a “dark-skinned male.”
Villanueva said the shooting shows the dangers officers face in the streets and how situations can change in “the blink of an eye.”
Harbingers Daily: Berean Review
In a recent article written by Franklin Graham titled “America in Chaos,” he explains how the lawlessness we are witnessing on our streets is rooted in the “despising of authority”:
I think what we are seeing today is a problem with authority. The Bible warns us about those who “despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries” (2 Peter 2:10)…
What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis was horrifying, but we should not blame law enforcement personnel in general. Almost all of them genuinely seek “to protect and to serve.” Former Portland Police Chief Jami Resch put it this way: “How do we come together to stop the violence and destruction in our city so we can move forward to identify solutions that can work? How long can we, as a city, endure the extreme disregard for human life and property demonstrated by a small group of individuals? We have to collectively come together to stop those who are holding our city with violence. Every night, we are using all our resources and it is still not enough.”
We are at the mercy of a generation that seems to have no respect for God’s standards and no awareness of His redeeming love. One North Carolina policeman describes the streets as a spiritual battlefield. “We work where the devil plays,” he said.
If we are going to transform our cities, we need a new generation of godly leaders.
Terry James in his article “Lawlessness Stage-setting & Falling Away” explained that is rioting and violence we are witnessing today was told by Jesus Christ Himself to be a sign we are nearing His Return:
We hear of such reports daily and nightly in the hourly news cycles. The rebellious thuggery has proliferated over the past months and shows every indication that things will get much worse. Signs of rebellion, of lawlessness, are continuing to spread.
These times of lawlessness, of course, have not gone without notice by God, who knows the end from the beginning. This was predicted by Jesus Himself for this end-of-the-age moment in human history: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
