A Reader Writes . . .
My letter to the editor, in today’s print edition of Loudoun Now:
Dear Editors:
What has happened to the party of patriotism, and law n’ order?
The patriotism part was pretty much blown up by sympathy for the January 6th hooligans who ransacked the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Aspiring Republican U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao called them “our people.” Others, including our former president, described them as “Antifa,” which is not exactly consistent. These folks have gotten unaccountably fond of Vladimir Putin and critical of U.S. support for Ukraine’s resistance to the brutal Russian invasion.
When it comes to law and order, our county prosecutor Buta Biberaj was criticized for acknowledging that with the limited resources that all public agencies face, some crimes were better left to police and judges, and the more serious ones would be the focus of her office. It would be nice for similar scrutiny to be leveled at our Republican sheriff, Mike Chapman, who has been consuming county resources – our tax dollars – in problematic ways.
Instead of chasing dangerous criminals, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) used resources to investigate moms in private Facebook groups, finding nothing in two separate situations. In at least one case, as reported in the Times-Mirror, the office maintained a spy to monitor private online conversations.
The LCSO also cost the county half a million dollars by abusing a prisoner at the county jail with scalding hot water. Sergeant Friday was a tough cop, but I never saw that on Dragnet. Reportedly, there have been other costly suits as well arising from Chapman’s management of the Loudoun County dungeon. At least one case of bogus criminal charges that ruined the reputation of a local teacher resulted in a five million dollar judgment against LCSO.
Circling back to the January 6 shenanigans, the sheriff also spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally led by Dave LaRock, unsuccessful candidate for the State Senate, on November 15th in 2020.
When it comes to local public safety, to quote Bill Murray in Tootsie, “We’re getting into a weird area here.”
Max B. Sawicky
Lovettsville
Pointed, well-reasoned arguments like these have a way of bouncing right off the skulls of the MAGA troglodytes. But one hopes there are readers who will be intrigued, or even moved to reconsider their allegiances.