Never Play Dead by Tomi Lahren

Author:Tomi Lahren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-05-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

Be a voice for the voiceless.

When we speak, we are our afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.

—AUDRE LORDE

In April 2018, on-duty police officer Rogelio Santander, twenty-seven, died the day after he was shot during an attempted arrest at a Home Depot in Dallas. His partner, Officer Crystal Almeida, twenty-six, was shot in the face and Scott Painter, a Home Depot loss prevention officer, was shot three times during the attack, in his head and one shoulder. Both were critically wounded. As the two police officers were trying to detain a shoplifting suspect, he pulled out a gun. Almeida has had several surgeries to remove bullet fragments and excess fluid from her brain and facial reconstruction. She also lost sight in her left eye. But if you haven’t heard about this, you’re not alone. That story was nowhere to be found. Why? Because instead of focusing on this real news, the media focused on the fact that Kanye West tweeted his support for Trump that same week. Yes, Kanye seemed to be all that everyone was talking about on TV, Twitter, and Instagram. To me, this intense coverage of a nut-job celebrity and all the people hopping on the Kanye bandwagon was absurd. More important, it really hit home because my best friend, Laura, is a police officer who was supposed to be on duty at that Home Depot! She wound up working the NFL Draft instead, but she easily could have been in the line of fire that day. And that is why I do what I do and why I will continue to be a voice for the voiceless, in this case the officers who died that day working at the Home Depot and every officer, first responder, member of the United States military, and American who risks his or her life for something bigger. I know that I’m blessed with the platform that I have and I’m going to use it to uplift these heroes, people who inspire me. Something I often say when I give speeches to law enforcement or the military is “I know a lot of you are excited that I’m here for you tonight, but I’m just a girl from South Dakota with a big mouth, and I’m going to use it to fight for you.”

Although a lot of people criticize me, many, many people tell me they admire me for being brave. But that’s a tricky word. I’m not brave. I’m bold because I say what’s on my mind, whether it’s politically correct or not. Those officers at Home Depot were brave. The people who fight for this country are brave. Originally the title of this book was “Brave Enough to Say It.” But upon reflection, that adjective is incorrect, and it’s something I’m really sensitive to. Brave is people who die for this country and the loved ones who make sacrifices that go along with that.

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