Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, you’ll have noticed that a lot of protests have been taking place across the country recently — most of which as a result of the recent anti-ICE protests. A recent example took place in the capital of Maryland, where dozens of people gathered to protest President Donald Trump’s use of military force and his planned birthday parade. Several of the protesters were also veterans who were against what was happening. You would assume that police would treat the veterans with respect, but that didn’t happen. As the protesters broke through the barrier put by police and headed to the Capitol’s stairs, police started arresting them.
After the protesters moved the barrier, some people stayed behind to film what was happening. An atrocious event took place as police decided to arrest an 80-year-old veteran who was among the protesters. They didn’t even treat him with respect because of his status or old age. The police removed him from his walker and forced him to his feet. They also zip-tied his hands behind his back like he was some kind of a criminal. You can hear the crowd chanting, “Put his hands in front of him.” The officers still didn’t care. As one of them started leading the Washington veteran forward, you could see how he was struggling to move without his walker. This shouldn’t have happened.
People Reacting to the Arrest of the Washington D.C Veteran
Immediately, people were left furious by what they had just seen. In addition to mistreating a veteran, the police also didn’t handle the old man with respect. One person believed that this would come back and haunt them. “He literally has a f**king walker… do they think he’s gonna take off? Not to mention the absolute disrespect for a veteran. Their karma will come,” they wrote. Another person replied by saying, “They’re also forcing him to walk unassisted. Dude has a walker for a reason.” Someone else called the officers animals as they wrote:
“They’re walking him without his Rollator. Most of you probably have no idea how painful is to walk without having that Rollator for support. I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. These guys are animals.”
Two people also believed that the way the Washington D.C veteran was treated was quite embarrassing. “He looks very dangerous. Let’s throw him in the hole. F-ing embarrassing,” one of them wrote. The other one said, “We are a global embarrassment.” Another one wanted the man to be freed as they wrote, “Free this man. What the f**k are we doing.” Two Redditors even compared all those involved in what’s happening to Nazis. “He’s too dangerous, he remembers,” one wrote. While the other replied by saying, “He thought he’s only have to fight Nazis once. Respect, sir.” It’s quite shameful that an elderly veteran was treated like this. I hope that the officer who took him away and the one who had his walker will face consequences one day.