VICTOR JOECKS: NLV officer’s death doesn’t fit the left’s preferred narrative

A black man killing a white police officer doesn’t mean black people are systemically racist. Yet, the left frequently claims the reverse is true.

There was a public memorial service for North Las Vegas police officer Jason Roscow on Thursday. He was shot to death last week by Alexander Mathis. Roscow and another officer returned fire. Mathis died of a gunshot wound to the head. It’s a horrific tragedy, especially for Roscow’s two boys, ages 4 and 9. May God comfort them in the months and years ahead. Their dad died a hero, running toward danger to protect his community.

On Wednesday, North Las Vegas police released body camera footage of the confrontation. Roscow was responding to calls about a man with a firearm throwing rocks at cars. As Roscow walks down a residential street, the footage shows Mathis stepping out from the side of a house.

Roscow yells, “Hands up. Show me your hands.”

Instead, Mathis ducks back behind the house. Roscow then runs toward Mathis. There’s a Jeep parked in the street that is somewhat between Roscow and Mathis. It’s unclear if Roscow saw Mathis move away from the house.

In the body camera footage, gunshots suddenly ring out, and Mathis unexpectedly pops out from behind the Jeep.

There are two things the body camera footage makes clear. One, both men would still be alive if Mathis had immediately obeyed Roscow. Two, once Mathis disobeyed, Roscow had very little time to make life-and-death decisions. If he had been able to react one second sooner, he might still be alive.

This tragedy doesn’t fit the left’s preferred narrative. Roscow was white, and Mathis was black.

But it does expose why it’s so dangerous to inaccurately claim police are systemically racist. Leading Democrats and liberal organizations have done that for years. In 2020, Kamala Harris bragged about working on “legislation to address systemic racism in the police system.” That same year, Joe Biden said there “absolutely” is systemic racism in law enforcement. Leftist groups, such as the ACLU and the NAACP, continue to promote this idea.

The truth needs to be more widely known. Police shootings of unarmed black individuals are rare. Last year, it happened 10 times nationwide, according to The Washington Post’s database. Even that number is misleading. In most cases, a police officer shot someone who was resisting arrest, fighting officers or disobeying orders.

Yet, this fact isn’t common knowledge on the left. A 2023 survey found more than 40 percent of very liberal respondents believed police killed 1,000 or more unarmed black men in 2021. More than 10 percent believed the number was 10,000 or more. The actual number was 11.

If black men believe that police are systemically racist, they will be more likely to disobey police officers and resist arrest. In a sad bit of irony, this makes it more likely they will be shot by police. This also puts police at risk. If an officer hesitates for half a second — worried about being second-guessed — when confronting a black suspect, the officer could be murdered.

Police aren’t systemically racist, and it endangers police officers — and dishonors heroes such as Roscow — to claim that they are.

Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.