COMMENTARY: Story of Vegas cop who froze in fear during Strip massacre now national news

This is part deux of my coverage of the Vegas massacre. For months, this story and all its inconsistencies has been ignored by much of the mainstream media. The Review-Journal and other media outlets went to court to force the Metropolitan Police Department to release videos, testimony, etc. But why did Las Vegas police try so hard to keep the pertinent information about the worst mass shooting in modern American history from going public? What were department officials hiding?

Now we know.

In my last column, I wrote about Metro Officer Cordell Hendrex. He was physically close to the shooter and in position to save lives. But he did nothing — frozen in fear.

No one wanted to highlight this less than me. I’m the most pro-police, law-and-order conservative on the Earth. I love and support cops. I call cops heroes. But that’s because cops typically run toward the sound of gunfire, while normal folks run away. That’s heroism. But when one cop freezes and does nothing while people are dying and his fellow cops are charging into automatic weapon fire, it is literally a sin to say nothing.

So I wrote about it. And once the police bodycam videos came out, I was sickened at the cowardly politicians interviewed by the Review-Journal last Saturday on the subject. They were all afraid to state the truth and comment on the obvious. These are typical politicians — afraid of their own shadow. Afraid to go on record to say, “This looks terrible.” Afraid of liability.

How ridiculous.

So I called it. It’s impossible not to notice the comparison between Hendrex and Scot Peterson, the cop who stood outside the high school in Parkland, Florida, while teens were being murdered.

Police are trained to be heroes. They are trained to run toward gunfire. They are trained to risk their lives to protect ours. And, thank God, 99 percent of them do.

But when one doesn’t, it has to be publicly called out. Innocent victims may have died because Hendrex froze. His own testimony was chilling. He prayed to God to give him the courage to move his feet, but he couldn’t. He was “the tip of the spear.” He was the leader of the only team of officers at the top of Mandalay Bay who had a chance to stop, or at least distract, the mass shooter. Five armed cops and security led by Hendrex. People dying, cops under heavy fire.

They did nothing.

Politicians said, to paraphrase, that “he did the best he could.” So now politicians want to award participation trophies to cops who won’t take action while citizens are being shot like fish in a barrel?

How disgraceful.

I feel pity for Hendrex. But what if your child were in that concert killing field? Your mom? Your wife? Would you accept a cop who froze in fear, shaking, trembling, praying to God, saying his feet would not move?

The story isn’t quiet anymore. As I write this, it is the No. 1 news story in America, splashed across the Fox News website with the title: “Terrified with Fear. MUST WATCH: Chilling Video Shows Vegas Cop Frozen Outside Hotel Room as Gunman Sprays Crowd.”

And the centerpiece of the story? My radio interview with Randy Sutton, a former decorated police hero and Metro lieutenant who was as shocked, disgusted and outraged as me upon seeing this video.

The cat is out of the bag. That’s good. Only the truth will set us free.

Contact Wayne Allyn Root at Wayne@ROOTforAmerica.com. Hear or watch the nationally syndicated “WAR Now: The Wayne Allyn Root Show” from 3 to 6 p.m. daily at 790 Talk Now and at 5 p.m. on Newsmax TV.