Karen already offered a wrapup of some of the speeches from the first night of the RNC, drawing particular attention to the speech given by Maximo Alvarez. The Cuban-born American and his family had to flee socialism twice, once from Spain and again from Cuba. And now he fears that he’s seeing the same thing unfold in the United States. It was certainly inspirational.

But that wasn’t the only highlight of the evening. One of the more emotional and gripping deliveries came from Andrew Pollack. His daughter Meadow was one of the students killed during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in 2018. He spoke forcefully about how the end of his daughter’s life impacted the lives of the rest of her family and their community. He also spoke of being invited to meet with and speak to President Trump, describing the compassion he received and the actions that the White House took to make schools safer. (NY Post)

“The gunman had threatened to kill his classmates before; he had threatened to rape them; he had threatened to shoot up the school,” Pollack said. “Every red flag you can imagine. But the school didn’t just miss these red flags — they knowingly ignored them.

“Far-left Democrats in our school district made this shooting possible because they implemented something they called ‘restorative justice,’” he continued…

“I was just fine with the old approach to discipline and safety — it was called discipline and safety. But the Obama-Biden administration took Parkland’s bad policies and forced them into schools across America,” he said.

I honestly don’t know how Pollack made it all the way through the speech without breaking down, but for the most part he did, with his voice catching only a few times as he spoke about the horrific death of his daughter and all the promise that had been snuffed out in a matter of minutes. Here’s the speech. It’s only five minutes long or so. If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s well worth the time.

Pollack speaks admiringly about Trump’s School Safety Commission and the positive impact it’s had on schools across the country. He notes the absence of media coverage of that initiative and his memories of being there when it was announced. He also calls out Joe Biden for promising to return to the Obama-era policy of “restorative justice” in our schools.

It’s worth recalling that no gun control law currently on the books or under consideration would have prevented Nikolas Cruz from shooting up that school except for a red light intervention. And even then, the outcome would be less than certain. But the carnage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School could have been significantly reduced with a more rapid and forceful response when the violence broke out, particularly with well trained, armed resource officers on the scene. In contrast, Democrats are supporting policies driven by protesters who want all school resource officers removed from America’s campuses. Andrew Pollack is out there trying to make a difference, even as his family continues through the grieving process. It was brave of him to share his story in such a public fashion.