Politicians who’ve called to defund the police have no business hugging heroes on Sept. 11, declared the husband of Moira Smith — the only female NYPD officer killed in the terrorist attack.
James “Jim” Smith, 60, said he fully expected to see “anti-police” politicians clamoring for photos on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy Saturday “with their arms around heroes and trying to bask in the reflected glory of what my wife and other officers did.”
“By September 12, they’ll be back to defunding the police. I’ve no intention of being anywhere near it,” he told The US Sun in an interview.
James and Moira Smith both worked at the 13th Precinct, and shared daughter Patricia, who was just two-years-old when her mom perished in the collapse of the South Tower, one of 60 NYPD and Port Authority officers killed that day.
“We made a promise to never forget and we’ve clearly forgotten with the way police officers are treated today in this country, both by the public and the politicians,” James Smith told The Sun. “It’s disgusting. It didn’t take long to forget.”
He added: “We were the first ones to run into the buildings to save people. Moira lost her life to make sure that other people got a chance to go home to their families, even though she didn’t get home to hers.
“They forgot the lessons of 9/11: there are people willing to give their lives to help you,” Smith said. “It’s sad state of affairs.”
Instead of attending memorial ceremonies, Smith told the outlet he spent the day with Patricia, now 21 and an athletic trainer at Tulane University.