Matthew Christopher\nHarris, a former lecturer at UCLA, was arrested on February 1 in Boulder,\nColorado, after posting an 800-page manifesto threatening violence in\nCalifornia and Colorado. Police in both states, along with federal law\nenforcement agencies apparently took Harris\u2019 threats to be very serious, with\nthe possibility of mass casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A relieved Boulder Police Chief, Maris Herold, spoke to reporters<\/a> after her department executed Harris\u2019 arrest. \u201cI can\u2019t state this more strongly: The importance of having collaboration at the federal, state and local levels is critical to the swift resolution of this incident this morning,\u201d Chief Herold said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hooray for interdepartmental cooperation! But, wait a minute: Isn\u2019t Boulder a sanctuary city? Back in 2017, the Boulder City Council could not state their unwillingness to engage in collaborative law enforcement efforts with federal immigration enforcement agencies more strongly<\/em> when they unanimously approved an ordinance declaring the city a sanctuary jurisdiction<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What if Harris had been\nan illegal alien, rather than a disgruntled ex-faculty member at UCLA (located\nin the heart of another defiantly sanctuary city and state)? Would the\nsituation have been resolved with Harris being walked away in handcuffs before\ndozens of innocent people were carried away in body bags?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chief Herold and hundreds of other police chiefs, along with thousands of city council people, county supervisors and state legislators, can\u2019t have it both ways. Either \u201ccollaboration at the federal, state and local levels is critical\u201d to averting tragedies and saving lives, or it isn\u2019t. When the phone rings at Boulder police headquarters asking for assistance, it shouldn\u2019t matter if it is the LAPD, the FBI, or ICE at the other end. They\u2019re calling for a reason. And, as we have seen from countless incidents in which people have paid the ultimate price<\/a> when law enforcement agencies refuse to cooperate with ICE, the answer should be, \u201cHow can we help you?\u201d not \u201cGo away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew Christopher Harris, a former lecturer at UCLA, was arrested on February 1 in Boulder, Colorado, after posting an 800-page manifesto threatening violence in California and Colorado. Police in both states, along with federal law enforcement agencies apparently took Harris\u2019 threats to be very serious, with the possibility of mass casualties. A relieved Boulder Police<\/p>\n