Whiting Sweeting fled on foot into the cold January night to escape the law. With arrest warrant in hand, New York Constable Darius Quimby pursued. The warrant was for trespass, a minor property crime, yet Sweeting vowed not to be taken alive. He ran into the woods, jumped on a large rock, and threatened to kill the first man who touched him. Undaunted by his threats, the constable came up behind Sweeting and pulled him from the rock. The two men engaged in a brutal fight, which resulted in the officer being beaten to death. Constable Quimby was the first American law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty. That was January 3, 1791; yet, 228 years and over 25,000 line-of-duty deaths later, American law enforcement officers are still on the job, risking their lives to protect ours.
I found it interesting what the New York Supreme Court Chief Justice Yates said at the appeal:
Your crime is not only against the laws of man, but directly against the laws of the Supreme Being. The apostle Paul says, the powers that be, are ordained of God, and whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.—You did not submit to the lawful authority—you resisted till death ensued, and a murder committed upon one of your neighbors—You shed his blood, and by the divine law he that sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed. You are a murderer, and you are condemned by this court.—Under the law there was a city of refuge, to which the man-slayer might flee; but alas! for you, there is none, in this world; your only hope must be through the great atonement and the blood of the blessed Jesus, to which I earnestly exhort you to apply for pardon; and may you obtain forgiveness…. Your sentence is…to be hanged by the neck until you are DEAD, and that your body be delivered to the surgeon for dissection—and the LORD have MERCY on your poor SOUL.[1]
How times have changed! Can you imagine a judge saying that today?
On April 2nd, I was honored to speak to over 200 law enforcement officers from Kansas and Missouri at the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office annual training in Emporia, KS. Several officers thanked me for the presentation. Thanks to Sergeant Jacob Welsh for the invitation.
Police Chaplain Bart Leger serves the Lake Charles, Louisiana community as pastor of Faith Bible Church and as a certified law enforcement officer and chaplain. Faith Bible Church ordered 60 copies of Winning a Gunfight that Chaplain Leger will give to the graduates of the local law enforcement academy. Pray for these new officers as they embark on their law enforcement careers.
From April 23rd-25th, I attended the Rocky Mountain Bible Mission’s Shepherd Conference in Missoula, Montana. I was able to connect with several pastors from Montana to Minnesota who were in attendance.
May is a busy month, I’ll be presenting Wining a Gunfight seminars in Billings, MT, Meridian, MS, and Birmingham, AL. I also have a Pistol in the Pulpit seminar scheduled in Birmingham. Please keep these opportunities in prayer; there’s potential to reach over 400 officers. Retired police chief Burk Swearingen secured an interview for me on the Rick and Bubba radio show. The syndicated show is based out of Birmingham and reaches markets in 17 states. Click here for an audio/video of the May 1st interview.
Cop Church Idaho Falls had its first baptisms at the April service! Retired Detective Mark Thrush (Stockton, CA PD), his son Sam, and my granddaughter, Addison, were all baptized. Cop Church raised money to send 125 copies of Winning a Gunfight that will be given out to law enforcement officers by Elkhart, Indiana Police Chaplain Jim Bontrager at the annual National Police Week in Washington DC the second week of May. Pray these books will make an impact in the lives of the officers receiving the books.
Pray for your police.
[1] (Source: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/evans/N18356.0001.001/1:3.1.2?rgn=div3;view=fulltext; Accessed November 19, 2018)
