Billy Prempeh: Unlike BLM, I Am Running For Congress to Actually Help Protect Black Lives By Supporting Our Police By Assistant Editor
Published June 14, 2021 at 5:51pm
Exclusive guest op-ed from New Jersey congressional candidate William “Billy” Prempeh:
My name is William “Billy” Prempeh and I’ve decided to step up for the people of the 9th congressional district — because unlike Black Lives Matter, I will actually work to get justice and change the culture that is causing black lives to be taken on our streets.
I am a first generation American, U.S. Air Force Veteran and patriot from Paterson, NJ.
My parents legally immigrated to this country from Ghana, West Africa in the late 80s and sacrificed so much to give us the opportunity to thrive in this great land. I love this city, which I have lived in my entire life, and I can no longer sit by and watch it devolve into a dangerous warzone.
Paterson, the city I live in, is the largest in the 9th district. Democrats have controlled this city for nearly 50 years, and given its current state, it’s clear that it’s time for people to start voting differently and consider new solutions. As a Republican, I know that I can persuade people in my district to consider some alternative answers to our problems.
Paterson is a city that has become very crowded, and unfortunately, the rate of violence has been rising along with our population. In 2020, for example, the violent crimes in our city skyrocketed about sixty percent.
Sadly, a lot of these shootings are taking place in my neighborhood in the 4th Ward. About a week and a half ago there was a driveby outside of my house. One person was wounded and my neighbor was killed as she was taking out her trash.
Ravel Trejo a friend of mine from high school, who was not a gangbanger and was loved and respected by literally everyone he met was tragically also shot and killed here. We still do not know why that happened or have any suspects in the case.
These murders are becoming so commonplace in our community that it is starting to get very personal to me.
I believe that a lot of these issues that we see in our cities have to do with a lack of support and resources for our police. For example, this culture of not working with the police or “not snitching” has led to a stack of unsolved cases, and subsequently no justice, for people like my neighbor and friend. Where are the calls for justice for them, BLM?
If this culture and attitude towards law enforcement doesn’t change, neither will our crime rates. We need community involvement with our police and I will dedicate myself to inspiring it.
Now, I am not saying that the police could have prevented the violence against my friends, but it is undeniable that when there is a higher law enforcement presence, there is less crime. Perhaps, if the Democrats were not so busy trying to appease the far left, my friends, neighbors and all who have been affected by gun violence might still be alive today.
My opponent, incumbent Democrat Rep. Bill Pascrell, stands for the opposite of law and order.
He is siding with very very far left progressives and pushing this idea that “all police are inherently bad,” despite the police supporting him for many years. In one particularly brutal blow to law enforcement, in 2020, he sided with the far-leftists who wanted to remove qualified immunity and make their jobs significantly more dangerous. He has also expressed support for defunding police departments. Of course, it is unclear if he genuinely believes that these policies would help our city or if he is just pandering to the extremes for votes. Either way it demonstrates how out of touch he is with reality.
A lot of this rhetoric that is being pushed by Black Lives Matter is manufactured. I have a hard time believing that they actually think what they are spreading is legitimate. When real black lives — like my neighbors, friends, and people in my city — are being killed, that organization is nowhere to be found. However, when there is something that can be exploited to stoke racial tension, with the help of a complicit media, they suddenly appear.
This could not have been made any more clear than when Patrisse Cullors, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, announced that she is stepping down from the organization after buying millions of dollars in real estate on the backs of dead African Americans.
Of course I will not sit here and deny that there are a small minority of bad police officers, Derek Chauvin being a great example, but this is an exception — not the rule. Supporting our great men and women in uniform will make it much easier for them to hold their peers to a higher standard as they will know we have their backs.
It is time for us to stop the nonsense and humanize the badge. These people have families just like us. They are your neighbors and want our communities to be safe just as badly as we do.
I stand for law and order. I stand with the police. I stand with the people of the NJ 9th district. I believe that the best solution for our city is for all of us to work hand in hand.
I am running for Congress to make sure we get justice for my friend Ravel Trejo and the many others who have been killed in our cities — something that Black Lives Matter and their supporters apparently could not be bothered with.
Poster Comment:
Tweet at source.
Billy Prempeh is from Ghana. I bet he is glad he does not have to eat Ghanian food any longer.