Columbus Cop Surprisingly Defended By Florida Democrat

Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat of Florida and a former police chief, said this weekend that a Columbus, Ohio police officer who shot a knife wielding attacker acted properly.

Was this a sensible statement from a Democrat? It’s possible. But the more likely scenario is that Rep. Demings is thinking of challenging DeSantis or Rubio and is looking to corral moderate votes by shifting to the middle.

Former Orlando police chief @RepValDemings weighs in on the Ma’Khia Bryant shooting:
"It appears the officer responded as he was trained to do," she tells @jdickerson based on footage she's seen.

She calls the incident a "sad moment." pic.twitter.com/HuVs13MBsJ

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 25, 2021

Demings Discusses Shooting

Fox News reported:

“Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., said in an interview Sunday that the Columbus police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old last week seemed to respond the way he was trained. Demings, who is a former police chief in Orlando, told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation,’ that she formed her opinion with the ‘limited information’ that she weighed after viewing bodycam footage of the incident.

She said officers on patrol don’t have the benefit of watching a scene unfold in slow motion and are tasked with making ‘split-second decisions and they’re tough.’

But she said it seems the officer in the Columbus case ‘responded as he was trained to do with the main thought of preventing a tragedy and a loss of life of the person who was about to be assaulted.’ Officer Nicholas Reardon fired four shots at Ma’Khia Bryant last Tuesday as she swung an apparent knife at another young woman during a scuffle.”

This coherent tone plays into her recently stated intention of possibly challenging either Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or Florida Senator Marco Rubio, both Republicans. She could take hell from the left on this. That might be in her plan to seem moderate.

Demings Talks Potential Run

“I’ve received so many calls and texts and emails, and have been stopped when I’m out and about by people who are asking me that very same question,” she told Politico on Thursday.

“Matter of fact, they think I should run for statewide office and maybe challenge the governor, or challenge Sen. Rubio next year,” Demings went on to claim. “I’m seriously considering a statewide run. And we’ll see what happens.”

She made similar comments in her interview on Sunday.

“I am seriously considering running,” Deming said. “I have received calls and texts and messages from people all over the state asking me to run because they feel that they are not represented and their voices are not heard. And I believe that every Floridian deserves to have representation, regardless of the color of their skin, where they live, how much money they have in the bank, their sexual orientation or their religion.”

Notice the scripted language, the repeated message that it’s not her overweening ambition, but a cry from the people that is motivating her to run. And notice the race card, of course, and the sexual orientation card she plays. It’s all complete hogwash. But it could make her a player in a statewide Democrat primary.

This piece was written by David Kamioner on April 27, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.