Feb 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 2

ecovering from his

ecovering from his injuries. The officer returned to light duty just last week, nearly four years after being hit. LOUISVILLE FIREARMS IN- STRUCTOR SUSPENDED FOR ACCIDENTALLY SHOOTING RE- CRUIT DURING TRAINING A Louisville Metro Police officer and firearms instructor received a month long suspension for shooting a recruit during a training exercise and floating the idea of a cover-up, according to a case report by LMPD. On March 10, 2023, Officer Christopher Kitchen was helping two recruits — whose names are redacted in the released files — practice close-quarter tactics and hadn’t realized his gun was loaded when he fired at one of them, Kitchen later told investigators. The round struck the recruit in his bullet-resistant vest, bruising his abdomen, the Courier Journal reports. During the training exercise, a recruit was walking across the room and kept leaving himself open as a target, according to Kitchen’s interview. When asked why he fired his weapon, Kitchen said he wanted to drive home the point that the recruit needed to keep himself covered during a sweep. Kitchen fired a live round shooting the recruit in his vest-protected abdomen. LMPD launched an investigation. In November, Kitchen was found in violation of LMPD’s mandated care and discharge of a firearm, as well as having unbecoming conduct for discussing a cover-up with the recruits. BORDER PATROL UNION BACKS TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD, REBUKES ‘CATASTRO- PHE THAT THE BIDEN ADMIN HAS UNLEASHED ON AMERICA’ The National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which is the official union of U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel, released a statement last Thursday supporting the Texas National Guard’s attempts to secure the southern border and slamming the Biden administration for its “catastrophic” border policies, according to the Daily Wire. The union, which has more than 18,000 members, said, “Rank-and-file BP agents appreciate and respect what TX has been doing to defend their state in the midst of this catastrophe that the Biden Admin has unleashed on America.” NBPC tried to dispel some “fake news” that federal agents were going to begin arresting members of the Texas National Guard. “Rank-and file BP agents are not going to start arresting TX NG members for following their LAWFUL orders. That’s fake new,” the union said on X. Continuing, “TX NG and rankand-file BP agents work together and respect each other’s jobs. Period,” the union emphasized. “If TX NG members have LAWFUL orders, then they have to carry out those orders.” “We want to be perfectly clear, there is no fight between rankand-file BP agents and the TX NG, Gov. Abott (sic), or TX DPS. It may make flashy headlines, but it simply isn’t true,” NBPC said in conclusion. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave President Joe Biden a lesson in the U.S. Constitution when he issued a defiant statement last Wednesday as the Lone Star State continues to combat the massive infusion of people who are illegally crossing the southern border, Law Officer reported. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration earlier in the week, ruling that it could remove or cut through 56 The Blues - February ‘24

concertino wire the state has deployed to stop illegal aliens from crossing the Rio Grande into the state. Despite the high court ruling, Texas has remained steadfast in its own security as the Texas National Guard continued to install concertina wire along the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday, the day after the ruling by SCOTUS. On Wednesday, Abbott issued a statement on Texas’ constitutional right to defend and protect itself as Biden continues to attack the governor’s actions and refuse to perform his duties to secure the border. The Blues - February ‘24 57