Steven Hildreth
A U.S. Army soldier's message for Black Lives Matter activists has gone viral: A little respect goes a long way.
National Guardsman Steven Hildreth Jr. was pulled over in Tucson, Arizona, Oct. 27. He was wearing a hoodie while carrying a weapon. His mobile upload to Facebook in the traffic stop's aftermath soon went viral.
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Hildreth, who was pulled over for a broken headlight, explained his interaction with the Tucson Police Department as follows:
The lights go on and I pull over. The officer asks me how I’m doing, and then asks if I have any weapons.
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“Yes, sir. I’m a concealed-carry permit holder and my weapon is located on my right hip. My wallet is in my back-right pocket.”
The officer explains for his safety and mine, he needs to disarm me for the stop. I understand, and I unlock the vehicle. I explain that I’m running a 7TS ALS holster but from the angle, the second officer can’t unholster it. Lead officer asks me to step out, and I do so slowly. Officer relieves me of my Glock and compliments the X300U I’m running on it. He also sees my military ID and I tell him I’m with the National Guard.
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Lead officer points out my registration card is out of date but he knows my registration is up to date. He goes back to run my license. I know he’s got me on at least two infractions. I’m thinking of how to pay them.
Officers return with my Glock in an evidence back [sic], locked and cleared. “Because you were cool with us and didn’t give us grief, I’m just going to leave it at a verbal warning. Get that headlight fixed as soon as possible.”
I smile. “Thank you, sir.”
I’m a black man wearing a hoodie and strapped. According to certain social movements, I shouldn’t be alive right now because the police are allegedly out to kill minorities.
Maybe ... just maybe ... that notion is bunk.
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Maybe if you treat police officers with respect, they will do the same to you.
Police officers are people, too. By far and large, most are good people and they’re not out to get you.
I’d like to thank those two officers and TPD in general for another professional contact.
We talk so much about the bad apples who shouldn’t be wearing a badge. I’d like to spread the word about an example of men who earned their badges and exemplify what that badge stands for. #BlueLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter
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The soldier's post was shared almost 300,000 times in less than 48 hours.
"Thank you! America need this!" responded Facebook user Anna Katherine Roberson.
"You've got it, exactly, Steven! Thanks for showing everyone that we ALL need to be respectful of authority and that such courtesy tends to shape outcomes even better than otherwise. Glad you carry, too!" added Dan Betts.
Hildreth's post came just one week after President Obama said the Black Lives Matter movement needs to be taken "seriously" because of an injustice “happening in the African-American community that’s not happening in other communities," WND reported Oct. 22.
“We as a society, particularly given our history, have to take this seriously. And one of the ways of avoiding the politics of this and losing the moment is everybody just stepping back for a second and understanding that the African-American community is not just making this up," Obama said while speaking at a White House forum on criminal justice.
President Obama (Image: WhiteHouse.gov)
The Black Lives Matter movement formed over the past three years during racially charged media coverage of the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida; the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; the 2014 death of Eric Garner in Long Island, New York; and the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland.
