Omaha Police: The Tall Heroes of the Republic
- john raymond
- Jun 14
- 2 min read
It is a simple thing to say, “The protesters were brave.” And they were. They marched against tyranny on June 14, 2025—against a rising tide of militarism, against the lies of a compromised man in the White House, and against the creeping normalization of foreign domination through domestic proxies.
They marched for the republic, not just with their voices but with their presence. Some were veterans, still limping from older wars. Some were students, barely old enough to vote. And all stood together to say what needed saying: No Kings. No Tzars.
But another truth must be told. In Omaha, it was not just the protesters who honored the republic. It was also the police.
In a nation where too often the badge has been used as a tool of intimidation, where the uniform is sometimes deployed in service of spectacle or repression, Omaha’s officers made a different choice. They stood with the people. They protected the crowd. And in the most symbolic act of the day, they took a knee.
When protest chants reached their crescendo outside the College World Series, a single officer took that knee first. Not in surrender. Not in spectacle. But in solidarity.
One by one, others followed. It was a moment—small in scale, massive in meaning. In that moment, they did not serve a politician. They did not guard a parade of power. They served the Constitution. They served the idea of the republic.
There were no mass arrests. There were no riot shields. There were no flashbangs or vans. Instead, there was communication. De-escalation. Humanity. Courage. The kind of courage that doesn't always carry a protest sign or wear a medal—but the kind that quietly refuses to be used.
In a season of darkness—when Melissa Hortman was assassinated in her own home, when veterans were zip-tied on Capitol steps, when the machinery of the state is being bent toward the glorification of a man who serves foreign interests—this choice by the Omaha police matters.
It says: We are not here to crush you. It says: We remember who we serve. It says: The republic still has guardians.
Too often, we are told it must be one or the other—protesters or police, resistance or order, dissent or safety. But the Omaha police proved that binary false. Because when the institutions of democracy work as they should, they protect the right to protest. They shelter the voices that challenge power. They kneel—not before kings, but beside citizens.
So yes, the heroes of the day were those who stood against Trump, against Putinism, against the parade of petty tyrants and their enablers. But they were also the men and women in uniform who refused to be turned into pawns. Who protected the people’s right to assemble. Who knelt with them.
In this hour of testing, Omaha showed us what a democratic force looks like. Not silent complicity. Not forceful obedience. But civic courage—plain and visible.
They didn’t have to kneel. But they did. And for that, they stood tall.
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