The opinions stated in this article are solely those of the author. 

If you are one of the hundreds of Davis County drivers forced to a dead stop on the interstate for over an hour due to Pres. Joe Biden’s arrival in Salt Lake City, you have a right to grumble. It was more than inconvenient; count on missed flights, canceled appointments and dinner reservations, wasted gas, and overheated vehicles.

(Sorry, but you should have planned on disruptions since the President’s stopover was hardly a secret.)

But you have no reason to gripe – as many have on social media – about the conduct of federal law enforcement officials in the shooting death of a 75-year-old Provo man who threatened the life of the President, Vice President, public prosecutors, and even the FBI.

The man responsible for the death was the man himself.

His friends in his church congregation couldn’t fathom what happened. To them, the guy was a faithful member of his church, a “real teddy bear” who would help anyone in need, an elderly, disabled Vietnam veteran who had a strong testimony and love for his country.

That’s one side. But from his violent internet posts, his image as a “teddy bear” makes as much sense as a duck riding a bicycle.

Patriotic teddy bears don’t post messages hoping to see the President’s head severed, the Vice President assassinated, or see blood dripping from the head of a judicial official. This isn’t rabid conservatism; this is terrorism. With this ultra-violent mindset, the only difference between Ted Bundy and this man is that one had a better attendance record at church.

If you were a law enforcement official, you would naturally be wary of him. He had posted notices that he was aware he was under surveillance and that he had an array of loaded rifles ready for any incursion of his home. Indeed, investigators found he pointed a revolver at officers and, in a prior incident, threatened and brandished a gun at Google installers trying to wire his neighborhood for fiber.

It’s pretty simple. If you spit on a cop, don’t expect him or her to smile as they read you your constitutional rights. If you threaten to shoot a police officer, don’t expect a luncheon date with the police chief.

Actions – and threats – have consequences. If makes no difference whether or not you have an American flag waving outside your home.

In a few national cases, white men and women have claimed that Black victims “brought it on themselves” by not obeying the orders of police officers. In Provo, Utah an elderly teddy bear also induced his own suffering. It brought about his death – and I don’t blame law enforcement officers one bit for putting their safety ahead of threats from a homegrown terrorist. 

Bryan Gray, a longtime Davis County resident, is a former school teacher and has been a columnist for more than 26 years in newspapers along the Wasatch Front.