Every day police officers and other first responders show up to work because they are essential. They know that a virus exists that has been known to kill vulnerable people, but they still take the risk because their work is important and our society cannot function without them. Several police officers have died from COVID since the pandemic began, including Taunton Police Officer John Borges.
When you go to work every day during a pandemic, and then you contract the virus and it kills you, you are a hero. That is what the thin blue line represents – men and women like John Borges.
Sadly his legacy, and the legacy of many other cops before him, is being tarnished by some activists who want a thin blue line mural painted by students outside of the school resource officer’s office removed from Taunton High School.
Taunton High School Principal Matthew Mattos sent a letter to the school community Monday explaining that Taunton High administrators and staff will be meeting this week with students who have expressed concerns about a thin blue line flag mural outside of the school resource officers’ office. According to Mattos, the mural, which includes the flag, has been up at the school since the 2018-2019 school year when students and school resource officers (SROs) painted it together. It is part of the “Cop’s Corner” wall in the SROs’ “study buddy” relaxation area outside of their office where students are meant to gather, sit and do schoolwork.
Kids helped paint that flag shortly after Michael Chesna and Sean Gannon were murdered in the line of duty, neither of which took place far from Taunton. But that was back before it become cool to generalize police as sociopathic racist murderers. Now that a rogue cop in Minnesota (who was arrested and charged with murder) knelt on George Floyd’s neck while he overdosed on fentanyl, we’re all supposed to forget about the sacrifices other cops have made and jump on the F*** 12 bandwagon by pretending to be offended by the thin blue line flag.
The movement to have the flag removed is being championed by this woman.
Here’s why April Cabrera Funches has a problem with it:
April Cabrera Funches, president of Taunton Diversity Network (TDN), said that many students at Taunton High School may feel unsafe in the space because of the flag’s history of being used in reaction and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement, which protested police brutality against Black people. She also pointed out that the flag was flown during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.
