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Daron Goforth, a Houston-area sheriff’s deputy, was killed when Shannon Miles allegedly approached from behind and pumped 15 bullets into his body.

I am appalled by the crime. If, as the video evidence seems to show, Miles took this officer’s life, Miles should face justice through our legal system.

I have seen the speculation that Miles has a history of mental illness. In the absence of an investigation, however, I don’t know anything more about the crime. Neither does Harris County, Texas, Sheriff Ron Hickman. But that didn’t stop Hickman from blaming Miles’ actions on the “rhetoric” generated by Black Lives Matter, a movement that seeks to stop the deaths of unarmed African Americans at the hands of police.

“This rhetoric has gotten out of control,” Hickman said at a press conference after Goforth’s death. “We’ve heard ‘black lives matter,’ ‘All Lives Matter.’ Well, cops’ lives matter, too. So why don’t we just drop the qualifier, and just say ‘Lives matter,’ and take that to the bank?”

Hickman was right to say everyone’s life matters, but just about everything else about his statement was wrong.

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Photo by: Otto Yamamoto / Flickr Creative Commons