So, let’s get this straight — a violent international fugitive, wanted for committing assault and battery with a dangerous weapon in Massachusetts, was finally arrested. Northampton and Amherst officials, including two new police chiefs, want to assure us that they had nothing whatsoever to do with this excellent police work. In fact, officials vowed not to lift a finger to detain other international thugs or help federal authorities (our own government!) in any way, in the name of inclusion.

I find that less than comforting. I wonder how the thousands of parents who send their children to school in Amherst and Northampton feel after reading the bizarre statements. All this takes place as the Laken Riley murder trial unfolds in Georgia. There, an international fugitive was also allowed to roam free in a college town. He was lavished with benefits, even flown from New York to Georgia on the taxpayer’s dime, until he assaulted and murdered the 22-year-old nursing student while she was out for a jog.

This insanity has to stop. Amherst and Northampton officials, particularly the police chiefs who take an oath to serve and protect, should be ashamed. Stop playing politics with public safety, putting lives at risk, and then issuing virtue-signaling statements to justify your actions. It’s disgusting. Congratulations to ICE for ridding our streets of a dangerous criminal. Shame on Amherst’s and Northampton’s so-called leaders.

Anthony Fyden

Hadley