2020: The year cops lost my respect.

I’ve struggled with cop culture for well over a decade. But no more. I have officially given up even trying to respect the profession.

If I had to pick out the two or three most vile, reprehensible, events in American law enforcement during the past year, it would be damned tough. So many despicable incidents to choose from! and I catalogue them.

But, hands down, no contest, First Place goes to the murder of George Floyd by four Minneapolis cops. Floyd’s murder was the single most horrific event of the year. (That I know of, that is.)

Derek Chauvin was the first half of the final reason I lost my respect for cops.

Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis Cop, suffocated George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for nine minutes and twenty seconds. Chauvin remained on Floyd’s neck for three minutes after the man became unresponsive. He didn’t stop until a paramedic pulled him off of Floyd’s body.

Second Place has to go to the profession’s “unwavering support” for Trump, and its refusal to publicly acknowledge that it was wrong. But it’s damned close. That just might almost tie with Floyd’s murder.

And Third Place — the final straw — was on January 6, 2021, when cops participated in Trump’s insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Just knowing that some of them helped attack their own colleagues — let alone the sedition of these pigs — makes me sick to my stomach.