The police chief of Phoenix, AZ, Jack Harris, called a press conference Monday for the sole purpose of denouncing KFI-AM talk host Bruce Jacobs. Last week Jacobs had said on the air that Julie Erfle, the widow of a Phoenix officer killed by an illegal immigrant, should be ashamed of herself for traveling to Washington, DC with Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon to lobby for passage of an immigration reform bill. Jacobs said on his show that he would give Erfle “partial blame” the next time a police office is killed by an illegal immigrant as her husband was. Chief Harris called Jacob’s comments “reprehensible” and demanded an apology.
RBR/TVBR observation: It is fair to argue in public about whether immigration reform, which Jacobs and many other conservative talk hosts denounce as “amnesty,” or beefing up border security and aggressive deportation is the way to go. In our view, once Julie Erfle decided to become a public crusader in a political cause, she gave up any immunity to criticism due to her tragic personal loss.
