The other day was Sunday, September 22nd. And the last day of David Lee's life.

Mr. Lee was a St. Louis City cop. He was 44 years old, had two kids, a wife, and was an 18-year veteran of the police force. He had stopped to help out a stranded motorist on I-70 and was retrieving traffic cones from the back of his cruiser when he was hit from behind by a drunk illegal alien. If you feel so inclined, you can pitch in here.

I'm going to. And I'm also conflicted about commenting on this at RedState. The tragedy warrants discussion, but on the other hand might smack of using the event for a political purpose. I don't want anyone to think I'd do that. But I think I'm going to say something anyway because this sort of thing happens a lot. Four hundred and fifty-four times a lot. And that's 454 times too many, because it isn't supposed to happen at all. Not here. I was very surprised to learn how often this occurs when I started looking at this.

From 2021-2024 (so far), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has recorded that many instances under their manslaughter/homicide category for Non-Citizen Statistics...454.  But for the years 2017-2020, they logged....just eleven. Yes, you read that right. Eleven.

Eleven instances of official government statistics citing illegal alien-caused deaths in 4 years. You can see them here.

You might notice on that chart that a lot of other crime statistics began to blast off in 2021 and then entered low earth orbit over the next three years. Those years were the Biden Years. Now, they are the Kamala Years. She owns them now and it's putrefying to watch as she cackles her way through them. Suddenly she is very concerned about the border right before the election. I am quite sure that she will then become equally and proportionally unconcerned about it right after the election.

Trump Torches Harris Over Planned Visit to Southern Border She Has Ignored for Years

"Vote for me! I'm Of Color! I'm Middle Class! I'm Female and Oprah likes me!" (gag)

You know, 454 illegal alien-caused deaths might not be a lot out of a country of 350 million people or whatever, but numbers aren't really the point. The fact that there is one death caused by somebody who isn't supposed to be here in the first place is one too many. That's why we arrest and prosecute killers, whether they do one person or ten. And to have your father, mother, child, brother, sister, friend, uncle, aunt, or grandparent vaulted off the planet and ejected out of your life by somebody who is lawfully required to be elsewhere must be absolutely maddening. For the people left behind by these killings, how do they go through the rest of time with the question "What if?" rattling around in their heads?

What if that person had never been drinking that morning? What if that person had never been driving that morning? What if that person had never been in the country illegally this morning? I'm not sure how I could ever come to terms with those questions had it been someone that I love. It's like, gee...the trajectory of their life would still be moving along on its rightful flight plan had it not been interrupted and destroyed by somebody who thoughtlessly, selfishly, and illegally entered their air space. They'd still be here!

They would still be here...They would still be alive. They would still come home at night. They would still be around to love. They would still be standing right in front of me. Not only that, but they still should be standing right in front of me.

I guess I tend to get a little philosophical about these kinds of things. About a third of my college credits were accumulated in theology and philosophy, and it's natural for me to gravitate toward those kinds of considerations. I often think of things in Aristotelian and Socratic terms, like what is matter? What is essence? What is causal pluralism, or the knowledge and appropriate cause of something? I also happen to like "Star Trek" (the old one), where the Prime Directive states that one can't interfere with another society for fear that it will unalterably change something in that society that otherwise would not have happened if you didn't. Like, what would Officer Lee be doing right now instead of getting buried if Ramon Arnaldo Chavez-Rodriguez (and any of the other surnames he might use) had stayed in Honduras rather than illegally coming here?

It's Happened Again - St. Louis Police Officer Struck and
Killed by Suspected Illegal Immigrant

Chavez-Rodriguez had been arrested before for DUI as well as domestic assault. He was on probation at the time of the incident, but it is not known why he wasn't deported then and there. Or, well maybe one does know. One just isn't supposed to say it outloud.

Regardless, I think I could take a lesson from Officer Lee's wife Tonya. I hope that if something like this ever affected me personally, I would have the wisdom and strength to follow her example. "This young man," she said. I do want you to know we forgive you baby, we forgive you. But you did destroy my family. I know God is gonna deal with you."

Rest in peace, Officer.

Dan Zoernig is a commercial photographer, retoucher, and illustrator in St. Louis, Missouri. Earning a degree in History/Political Science from Rockhurst University, he has been commenting on social and policy matters since the early 2000s.