C8FDA011-E9FE-446B-932F-41DA761474DC

DIANA BROOKE Today I watched with tears as the man I love emptied his closet of everything that has protected him While on shift for the past 10 and a half years. I saw the pain on his face as he piled his gun belt that has caused more back issue than any trooper would like to admit, his Kevlar that was the music to my ears every night when I heard him home safely at 3am removing the Velcro, his uniform he proudly wore with shined buttons he would sit and clean at night, his badges, and every last thing he had issued by the state. During his 10 years my husband has pulled burning bodies off the road, notified families of their loss, given CPR to a child who was in a car wreck and my husband held that child as she took her last breaths, he has saved a child covered in urine and feces left in a car full or porn while her mom was too busy getting drunk and high in the bar, he’s rescued a child being beaten by her father, consoled a husband who lost his wife and pulled their babies car seats out of the road, he found a troopers body who took his own life, was awarded for getting numbers of drunk drivers off our streets, was a DRE, and a TZT unit. He gave ALOT to this state and After all of this I got to see my husband who dreamed of being a State Trooper since he was a boy, fought hard to get the job and dedicated his life to the residents of Washington state for over 10 years drive away for the last time in his patrol car and peacefully and respectably give all his gear back so the state could fire him for an illegal mandate, even though a trooper cannot be legally fired without a public hearing. None of this was legal, none of this was ok, no one in the patrol backed our men, the chief told them to get on the bus or get run over by it and the union told them there was nothing they could do for them even though just between the 3 families from our class that were fired I’m pretty sure we all paid well over $100,000 in union dues over the 10 years our men were troopers, don’t tell me the union couldn’t hire an attorney and fight for the 93 men we lost today with all the money we paid them. Today I got to see the pain and loss on my husband and children’s face and that is something our family will live with. We choose to risk a $110,000 a year career that is the sole income of our family of 8 because our freedoms and body autonomy are worth more than any dollar amount. So today I see our pain but tomorrow I fear for yours. Our family will move on, we will leave Washington state and my husband will get another job in a state that supports the blue line because that’s what he does, he works hard to provide for us, we will rebuild our life, and move on. But the people in Washington who allowed this, who have stood by silently as laws were passed to allow criminal activity while at the same time reducing our force it is you all who will suffer. You are going to be left in a state with rampant crime and no one to protect you and they won’t stop with us. They are coming for the kids next, and I know many of you have said you will stand up when it gets to your kids but will you really????Youve already done everything they’ve told you up to this point and willingly given up your rights and freedoms. If now is not the time to stand up, I ask you what time is?????