Gates’ Remarks Over Slaying of Policewoman

The Times is wrong in asking for an apology from Police Chief Daryl Gates to the Salvadoran community of Los Angeles (editorial, “Insults Add to the Tragedy,” Feb. 13).

I am sick of hearing outraged cries from those who back the criminals who have made our streets a war zone. Nothing was said by Gates that was not true. The killer of police Officer Tina Kerbrat was drunk, had an arrest record and was Salvadoran. It was senseless and frightening.

The resentment by the local Salvadoran community is only the expression of shame that one of its people perpetrated such a ghastly act. We do not hold it against them as a whole, but Gates spoke the truth! No matter how much the Salvadoran community feels insulted, we must back Gates’ right to speak. He was giving the facts! The gunman was running loose on the streets while intoxicated and carrying a .357 magnum weapon and he was illegally in our midst. The result is a dead police officer who showed a far greater potential as a role model than the man who so wantonly took her life.

Cheers to you, Chief Gates, and your entire force that protect us citizens who live in fear of such killers and the muddled immigration laws that permit these outrages to happen.

The Salvadoran community of Los Angeles is not to blame and I think Salvadorans should be grateful that they do not stand accused of the murder. Why the outcry? Why the demand for an apology?

ALLAN BENJAMIN

Los Angeles