‘American Hero of the Year’ Award Goes to …..

Think of what happened in San Bernardino, UCMED, Chattanooga, Fort Hood  scores of Americans slaughtered or wounded in Islamic attacks on American soil.

And then think of what happened at our free speech event in Garland, Texas.  Garland had guns. And one officer, in a singular act of courage and heroism, shot those jihadis dead before they could open fire on hundreds of patriots. That anonymous officer’s heroism and accuracy qualify him as a finalist for 2015 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

This hero is not merely Texan of the year, he’s the American of the year. No clockmed invitations to the White House for this hero, no. Little praise has been heaped upon this giant. Perhaps because so many on the left wish the jihadists had succeeded in slaughtering patriots who take a stand in defense of the first amendment.

Obama’s silence on this singular act of heroism speaks (screams) volumes.

G-d bless this man and his family. We owe him our lives.

“Texan of the Year finalist: Terrorist-stopping Garland officer,”  Dallas Morning News, December 17, 2015

If this month’s deadly terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., has special resonance in North Texas, it’s because on a sleepy Sunday in May, it could have been us.

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Like San Bernardino’s husband-wife team, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi had desire and tools, if not specific instructions. Inspired by the Islamic State, they drove from Arizona to crash Pamela Geller’s Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland.

Outfitted in body armor and armed with assault-style rifles and explosives, they charged the Curtis Culwell Center until shots from a Garland police officer’s Glock handgun put them down. SWAT officers, hearing the gunfire, rushed up to finish the job. That anonymous officer’s heroism and accuracy qualify him as a finalist for 2015 Dallas Morning News Texan of the Year.

If not for his actions, there’s no telling how many of Geller’s 200 attendees would have made it out. You don’t have to agree with their message to understand their right to express it and survive doing so.

The Garland officer wasn’t exactly alone, just the first line of defense. His partner in the Culwell Center parking lot was an unarmed school district security officer. They used their car to block an advancing Simpson and Soofi, who got out of their vehicle and started firing. Bruce Joiner, the Garland ISD officer, was hit in the ankle.

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The Garland police officer returned fire and stopped them. Just like that.

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“That’s superhuman right there,” said Kevin Lawrence, executive director of the Texas Municipal Police Association, which represents most of Garland’s police officers. “Think about the stress, the level of adrenaline pumping through your veins in a situation like that — one officer with a pistol against two guys who are armed to the gills with evil in their hearts.”

The finger-pointing that was sure to follow about the Simpson and Soofi attack — Who knew what, when and why the heck didn’t everyone else know? — was an argument for another day. It certainly didn’t involve a rank-and-file police officer, his service weapon and his courage.

We’d like to tell you all about that Garland police officer, who was working off-duty security as part of a well-executed plan that overcame the terror suspects’ jihadi passion. Understandably, Garland police want to protect his identity, based on information that his life would be in danger.

We do know that he’s a veteran of many years, married with children and most recently assigned to the traffic division. We suspect he’s the type who would scoff at “superhuman” and simply argue that he was just doing his job. In a year when good police officers have soldiered on amid broad-brush criticisms of their profession when some fall short, this officer stands in for the great majority.

We hope he can accept the appreciation so many of us hold for lifesaving skill and commitment. In that light, including him among our Texan of the Year finalists seems the least we could do.