President Donald Trump called Wednesday for those convicted of killing a police officer to be immediately sentenced to death.
The president made his comment on Capitol Hill during a speech at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Day service dedicated to the nation’s fallen officers, Fox News reported.
“The ambushes and attacks on our police must end, and they must end right now,” Trump said from the dais. “We believe that criminals who murder police officers should immediately, but with trial, get the death penalty.”
“But quickly. The trial should go fast. It’s got to be fair, but it’s got to go fast,” Trump insisted.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, in 2017, 174 officers were killed in the line of duty, in 2018 that number fell slightly to 163, and thus far into 2019 there have been 43 deaths. The number of officer deaths has risen and fallen between 140 and 190 deaths since 2010.
The president has recommended the death penalty for cop killers several times before. Last year, for instance, Trump said, “criminals who kill our police officers should immediately, with trial, but rapidly as possible… get the death penalty,” and he also pushed the sentence during his 2016 campaign for the White House.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.