Two years ago in my town, just a mile from my house a police officer was killed by a young man. His killer was a career criminal, recently arrested for selling drugs to schoolchildren and quickly released by one of our infamous Massachusetts Liberal Judges.
The officers wife posted this recently on Facebook.
Two years ago my husband Sgt Michael Chesna was killed for doing the job he loved, being a police officer. It was, and continues to be, the most painful thing I have ever endured. It has affected not only me and my children, but my family, Mike’s family, and Mike’s friends. When Mike was murdered there were no protests (peaceful or otherwise), no riots, and no looting. There was certainly no public outcry from politicians for the reform of a broken justice system that lets repeat offenders out on the street. Instead everyone banded together and prayed, we prayed that we would find the strength to face each day with the knowledge of what we lost.
At that time I received a tremendous outpouring of support from politicians, our first responders, and citizens of towns near and far.
People, by way of ribbons, flags, signs and lightbulbs turned my town blue to show their respect not only for mike, in recognition of his sacrifice, but as a way to support all of our brave law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day. Part of this tribute included the ‘Thin Blue Line’ flag which, to this day, is displayed everywhere in my home, on our clothing, cars and in various places of our town and many other towns. The ‘Thin Blue Line’ flag is not a political statement and does not represent an opposition toward anything. It simply represents the police officers role of separating the good from the bad while creating order from the chaos. This is what separates the world from them. No one had an issue with the ‘Thin Blue Line’ flag then nor did they have an issue with our officers who instead were treated with the respect that they so deserve.
Two years later I am witnessing the complete opposite from a lot of the people who looked me straight in the eyes at Mikes wake and promised to always be there for me, offering anything they could do. Now those same politicians are showing the utmost disrespect to our officers with this reform bill and even a certain town (with the agreement of both the fire Chief and police Chief) are disrespecting our officers by demanding that the thin blue line flag be removed from their fire trucks. I take each of these actions as a personal attack on everything Mike stood for as a police officer and a decorated army veteran with 2 two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
My children are growing up in a world where police are vilified. Their father was not a villain, he was a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice. His memory should never be tarnished by anyone.
It is not okay to judge someone based on the color of their skin, sexual orientation, race, gender etc, but it has become absolutely permitted and almost encouraged to despise police officers because of the job they choose to do. They did not choose to be victims of all this but to only serve and protect. People don’t realize that these officers come home and take off the uniform and are people just like you and me. Obviously, as past actions of some police officers have shown, those who choose to abuse their authority should be removed from their position and punished criminally. However, these bad apples are the exception rather than the rule. I do not condone violence and I agree that every person, no matter what your job, needs to be held accountable for their actions. I also feel that those who give false promises of unwavering support should be held accountable in November.
My children and I have witnessed enough hatred in the world and I do not want them to grow up thinking that this is the norm. My children have seen way more than they should be seeing. Please respect one another and be kind, no matter the circumstances. There is no place for disrespect and violence in this world. Please try your best to choose love over hate. I couldn’t be silent anymore. This is way to personal for me and I will always stand up for my husband. His memory won’t be desecrated along with any officer that has payed the ultimate sacrifice.
On the North River 