The ‘War on Cops” so visible since Michael Brown’s death in August, was long an undertone before becoming an overtone. In other words, it was already there and has been there for some time.

The result? More firearm-related police fatalities in 2014 and many of these fatalities coming in the “15 ambush assaults” carried out during 2014.

According to Fox News, firearm-related deaths for police officers rose “56 percent” in 2014–reaching a total of “50 officers” killed, including those killed in “ambush assaults.” There were “15 ambush assaults” in 2012 as well, but that number had dropped to “5” in 2013.

With the number on the rise once more, Memorial Fund CEO Craig Floyd is asking agitators to “tone down the rhetoric and rally in support of law enforcement.” Just as important, he says we need to rally “against lawlessness.”

Floyd said he is worried the violent and vitriolic-laced reactions to jury decisions in racially charged incidents, are making officers less and less safe. He said such “sentiment in America is influencing weak-minded individuals to launch violent assaults against the men and women working to enforce our laws and keep our nation safe.”

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