Libertarian Party mourns slain officers in Baton Rouge

 

For immediate release
July 18, 2016

ALEXANDRIA — Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, states, “The events in Baton Rouge are heartbreaking and we all mourn with the people of Baton Rouge as they grapple with the loss of innocent lives.”

After every tragedy, people rightfully want to find the cause and prevent future tragedies. Many will use this event to call for gun control and more laws. However, the real solution here would be fewer laws.

Sarwark continues, “If we truly want to reduce situations in which police are pitted against the people they are sworn to protect, we would end the war on drugs. The constant escalation of prohibitionist policies have increasingly pitted police and citizens against each other for decades and are largely responsible for the militarization of police forces across America.

Ending the violence means ending the policies that lead to black and grey markets, the highest incarceration rate in the world, and reduced economic opportunities in the formal labor market for huge swaths of Americans. Ending the violence means ending the war on drugs.

Ending the drug war will do more to heal the divide between police and citizens than any other measure. It is the best way to save lives: both those of innocent police officers and innocent citizens.

The Libertarian Party is the only political party in America devoted to protecting all rights of all human beings all the time. As part of this mission, the Libertarian Party seeks a minimal set of just laws that defend the rights of individuals and are equally applied to all.

 

###