Widow Of Slain Weymouth Officer Sees Massachusetts Police Reform Bill As 'Personal Attack'
WEYMOUTH (CBS) - The widow of Weymouth Police Sergeant Michael Chesna is not happy with the proposals for police reform in Massachusetts.
Cindy Chesna weighed in on that and a controversial decision to remove the thin blue line flag from fire department trucks in neighboring Hingham over the weekend.
Sgt. Chesna was attacked with a rock and killed with his own gun after responding to a call for an erratic driver in Weymouth on July 15, 2018. An elderly woman who lived nearby was also killed during the incident.
Emanuel Lopes is charged in Chesna's death. He has pleaded not guilty in the case. Chesna was survived by his wife and two young children.
In a lengthy Facebook post Sunday morning, Cindy Chesna wrote, in part:
"I take each of these actions as a personal attack on everything Mike stood for as a police officer and a decorated army veteran with 2 two combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"My children are growing up in a world where police are vilified. Their father was not a villain, he was a hero who made the ultimate sacrifice. His memory should never be tarnished by anyone."
She also wrote:
"When Mike was murdered there were no protests (peaceful or otherwise), no riots, and no looting. There was certainly no public outcry from politicians for the reform of a broken justice system that lets repeat offenders out on the street. Instead everyone banded together and prayed, we prayed that we would find the strength to face each day with the knowledge of what we lost."
"Obviously, as past actions of some police officers have shown, those who choose to abuse their authority should be removed from their position and punished criminally. However, these bad apples are the exception rather than the rule."
Kim McCarthy, whose husband Medfield Police Sergeant Daniel McCarthy was killed in by a truck during a traffic detail in 2000, is also unhappy with the current treatment of police.
"I have a real unsettling, upsetting feeling about the attack that's going on against our law enforcement," McCarthy said.
Hingham Firefighters Union said Monday that they cannot bring themselves to remove the flags.
"It's a show of support for law enforcement for those that go out every day and risk their lives and for those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice," said McCarthy.