Capitol police officer Billy Evans was killed on April 2 when a man rammed his car into the north barricade outside the US Capitol, striking Evans and another officer.
The man who rammed the barricade then jumped out of his car brandishing a knife and was shot down by the other officers at the scene.
The individual who killed Evans was 25-year-old Noah Green, a follower of the Black Supremacist organization Nation of Islam (NOI), led by Louis Farrakhan. He reportedly believed spy agencies had him under mind control and that the US government was the enemy of all Black people.
Green was in financial trouble and afraid of being homeless the night before ramming his car into Evans and the other officers.
Now President Joe Biden spoke some kind words to the family of the fallen officer as Evans’ body lies in the Capitol Rotunda, telling his two kids that their dad was a “hero” and that one day they will be able to think of him first with a smile instead of tears.
The speech had an emotional impact. Fox News’ Harris Faulkner, for one, was deeply moved by Biden’s speech.
‘He is Still in Your Heart’
Biden suffered the loss of his first wife Neilia and one-year-old daughter Naomi in 1972 as well as his son Beau later from cancer in 2015. In his speech on Tuesday, Biden consoled the Evans family, telling them about the pain of losing those closest to him and how he got through it.
He told Evans’ widow that the day would come she would smile before she cried when she thought of her late husband and he told her that she’ll always have him as long as she has her kids.
“My prayer for all of you is that the day will come when you have that memory and you smile before it brings a tear to your eyes. I promise you it is going to come. It just takes a while. But when it comes, you will know because he’s still with you. He is still in your heart,” the President said.
Biden also recited lines from the American writer Robert G. Ingersoll about what makes a hero.
“When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death – that is heroism,” Ingersoll wrote.
“Your dad was a hero,” Biden told the kids, adding that “he’s in your blood.”
‘So Present and So Kind’
Harris Faulkner of Fox News was touched by Biden’s words, calling him “so present and so kind” and saying he excelled at the job of “consoler-in-chief.” Faulkner said Biden is extremely talented at sharing “words of kindness and empathy” and praised his ability to connect with the kids and try to say something they’ll one day look back on and remember fondly.
A notable moment — Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner effusively praised Joe Biden’s speech honoring fallen Capitol officer Billy Evans pic.twitter.com/rR0RSDBqcQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 13, 2021
“Consoler-in-chief is a role that every president unfortunately plays in America. And we watched this moment of grief and we feel for the family and we understand the sacrifice because we have watched it play out. We know the meaning of law enforcement in our lives. Particularly at the U.S. Capitol…Our prayers are with that family,” Faulkner said.
What About Calling Out Hate?
What Biden didn’t do was mention the hate that killed Evans, inspired by the Black Supremacist and anti-Jewish, anti-American organization Nation of Islam. Green was a follower of Farrakhan’s unhinged hate and let his life problems drive him into extremist actions.
In America everyone is entitled to believe in the religion they choose, but inciting violence against White people and the United States is not acceptable.
Biden surely did a good job in consoling the Evans family, but he needs to do a better job in calling out the hate that’s driving this country apart, including from close allies of the Democratic party like the Nation of Islam.
