When speaking at the 37th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, Trump has called for an immediate end to attacks on cops and urged to institute a mandatory death penalty for criminals found guilty of killing police officers.
US President Donald Trump has suggested that "criminals who kill our [American] police should get the death penalty," adding, "Bring it forth."
Addressing the 37th Annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service, the US president said that attacks on police officers should end "right now."
He further said that he directed the Justice Department to "do anything within their power to defend the lives of American law enforcement."
During his speech, Trump also mentioned a Border Patrol agent who was killed in the line of duty in November.
The president insisted that the Department of Homeland Security is on the "front lines of this incredible, heroic fight," insisting that this is why he is now calling upon the US Congress to secure the country's borders, support border patrol agencies and put an end to policies which, according to him, release "violent criminals" into US communities.
"We don't want it any longer. We've had it. Enough is enough," Trump declared.
Peace Officers Memorial Day is an observance instituted in 1962 by US President John F. Kennedy in order to pay tribute to police officers who were killed or became disabled in the line of duty.
According to the Officers Down Memorial Page, 53 US police officers in were killed in the line of duty this year and 135 were killed in 2017.