FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 11, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 23
REMEMBERING MY
DAD AS FATHER’S
DAY APPROACHES
I am remembering my dad as
many of us are doing as we approach
Father’s Day and I would like to share
a few words about my father, who
gave me more than I had given him
in return.
We lived in Queens Village on
213th Street and 102nd Avenue in
a corner house. It was 1963 and my
mother had just passed away. My
father was then 72 years old and I
was 14.
My father had to take care of me
and a elderly blind boarder named
John as well. My father said he had
to remain strong for me. He kept
working two more years as janitorial
help at Grace Lutheran Day School
in Queens Village. He had to give up
our car because he could no longer
aff ord the repairs on the car.
My father loved me and couldn’t
give me a lot, but he gave me things
money couldn’t buy. He taught me to
respect all people no matter how different
they may be and that meant
their race, religion, or nationality
and what their political views might
be. He also taught me to do what was
right and to volunteer to help those
in need.
My father was a loving man and
father who cared about America and
the world we lived in. He had many
strong opinions and taught me to
speak up what I thought was right.
He lived to be 83 years, but got
to see me graduate from Grace
Lutheran Day School, an elementary
school in Queens Village and
also saw me graduate from Th omas
Edison High School in Jamaica.
I will always remember my father,
Frederick R. Bedell Sr., who was a
remarkable father. He was a good
man who taught me to be the same.
Let’s wish all fathers a happy and
blessed Father’s Day.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.,
Glen Oaks Village
DON’T DEFUND
THE NYPD!
Th ere has been some talk among
certain City Council members that
there should be a decrease in the
amount of money that the NYPD
has. Th
is is totally illogical, and ridiculous.
At a time when our police are
working under such tremendous
stress and less than ideal job conditions,
how could anyone in their
right mind even suggest this measure
be taken?
Th e NYPD needs every single bit
of the money that is allocated to it to
continue to fi ght crime and to keep
our citizens safe.
If there needs to be any cut in the
city’s budget due to the current economic
crisis, then let the cuts come
from other venues. Th e NYPD, as
well as the FDNY, are the two most
critical departments in our city and
each and every police offi cer and
fi refi ghter is essential to their respective
departments.
Remember that most of our police
offi cers are hardworking, caring,
decent and understanding offi cers.
Th e few who might be not doing
their jobs correctly should not be at
all refl ective of the vast majority of
the police department. Th ose offi cers
who are not doing their jobs properly
should be dealt with immediately,
and, if need be, either be suspended
or terminated as the situation may
warrant.
Members of the FDNY also are
very dedicated, hardworking, decent
and caring fi refi ghters, EMTS and
paramedics who are always putting
their lives on the line, just as the
police are, to protect us each and
every day.
Th ere must not be any defunding
of either the NYPD, the FDNY or
any other city agency that is so essential
and vital to the daily functioning
of the city.
Th e people of this city will not tolerate
any such moves by the City
Council which could further cause
economic hardship and stress.
Our elected offi cials must stand
against any such proposals and let
their voices be heard.
John Amato, Fresh Meadows
MORE TRANSPARENCY
IS NEEDED
As the rage boils over due to the
death of George Floyd, I wonder if
the Minneapolis police department
realizes that they might be compounding
the problem by their lack
of transparency.
Given that there is evidence of one
police offi cer’s guilt, via a cellphone
video, I doubt that releasing the body
camera footage, from all of the offi -
cers involved, would do any damage
to the cases against them.
Evidence is evidence, as long as it
is factual and not releasing it gives
the impression that they are trying to
spin this tragedy.
Th ere is a reason police offi cers have
these body cameras and even if that
footage indicates the three other offi -
cers played a major part in Mr. Floyd’s
death, not releasing the footage is
damning to that police department.
We need better transparency, on
the part of all law enforcement agencies,
to show they have nothing to
hide.
Th ere is a question I haven’t had
answered from the coverage of this
calamity. If George Floyd was already
in handcuff s and prone on the street
pavement, why was it necessary to
pin him down, by having multiple
police offi cers on top of him? Why
kneel on his neck, a far more dangerous
area to put pressure on than
his back?
One offi cer, sitting on his legs or
hips, could have kept him on that
asphalt, immobilized.
Th ere is also the question of why,
if this suspect was resisting arrest,
the police offi cers involved didn’t
place Mr. Floyd in the squad car. It
was right next to where he was being
pinned! Surely, four police offi cers
have the muscle to put him in there,
right?
I have a feeling that, in addition to
using excessive force, these offi cers
took the easy way out, when subduing
him.
Th is tragedy is being amplifi ed by
the Minneapolis police department’s
lack of clarity and forthrightness.
SM Sobelsohn, Kew Hardens
oped letters & comments
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Be outraged over
police attacks on
journalists in America
BY JUDY PATRICK
Within the journalism community, there’s outrage over
the assaults our fellow journalists have endured covering
the unrest in America sparked by the death of a black
man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.
We recognize that those reporters are bearing witness
to the events unfolding before them. Th ey are there
to hold those in power accountable for their actions.
Attacks on journalism diminish the people’s right to the
truth about what the government is doing in their name.
Th is is serious and needs to be addressed.
But let’s be frank. Protesters, business owners and
police offi cers are being attacked as well. Th ere’s plenty
of violence to go around, especially when night falls.
America’s outrage is focused, as it should be, on the
racial injustices that permeate our society. To seriously
address these fundamental problems, demonstrations
and protests need to be followed by lots of dialogue, education,
research and real change.
Yet to be successful, the sun must shine on that process.
We need to build understanding and consensus,
and for that we will need journalists every step of the
way. Without them, we will fail.
Th e ongoing attacks on journalists in America, especially
by police, is truly unprecedented. To be sure, journalists
in many other countries face far more adversity.
But this is America, the leader of the free world, where
the free press is one of our fundamental values and sets
the standard.
Covering protests, especially chaotic ones, has always
been tough. Reporters are used to getting jostled, taunted
and sometimes threatened with arrest. And while the
level of aggression has been increasing in the last decade,
the number of attacks of the past few days are far beyond
anything we have ever seen before.
Th e U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, run by the Freedom
of the Press Foundation and the Committee to Protect
Journalists, typically investigates 100 to 150 incidents of
attacks on U.S. journalists a year. On Monday, the group
was investigating more than 100 incidents from the fi rst
three days of the current protests alone.
Journalists don’t like becoming part of the story. It’s a
distraction from the central story, which in this case is
the unprecedented display of national outrage sparked
by systemic racial discrimination.
But it is because the central story is so important
that these shameful attacks must be called out and
denounced. Other countries may be able to control and
limit their press by intimidation and violence but that
can’t be allowed to happen here in America.
Journalists are getting pushed and shoved, shot by rubber
bullets and pepper balls, assaulted with pepper spray
and tear gas, punched, slapped, detained and arrested.
Some of this is happening live on air, before our eyes.
Th e danger can come from either direction. Some protesters
are targeting journalists, hurling rocks and other
debris at them, knocking them down, beating them and
setting their vehicles on fi re.
Why this is happening should be no big surprise. Since
taking offi ce, President Trump has put a big fat “enemy
of the people” stamp on every journalist’s forehead. He
affi rmed it with a tweet at the height of the protests this
past weekend. He’s done more than give the attackers
license to act; he’s emboldened them.
Th is is about far more than journalists’ personal safety.
Th is is about democracy. Th is is about the public’s right
to know. Th is is about an institution that, despite its lapses,
strives to help us build a better society.
Judy Patrick is the vice president for editorial content at
the New York Press Association.
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