Biden will meet with families of fallen police officers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, who will travel to Wilmington, North Carolina, on Thursday to talk about the economy, will stop in Charlotte to meet with families of police officers killed in the line of duty, a week after met with relatives of two fallen police officers in New York state.

The visit is expected to take place discreetly and behind closed doors, as the White House wishes to respect the privacy of bereaved families and avoid the appearance that it is using the issue for political purposes. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the airport, so as not to impose too much work on law enforcement agencies, which have been affected by the deaths but will already be there, helping with security for the presidential trip.

Biden will again try to show empathy with a community affected by gun violence, while calling for more restrictions on gun ownership and more funding for law enforcement.

Four police officers were killed a few days ago in North Carolina, when a wanted man opened fire on a unit that came to arrest him based on accusations of possessing a firearm as an ex-convict and fleeing to elude capture. The fallen officers were Sam Poloche and William Elliott of the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections; Joshua Eyer of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and U.S. Marshal Thomas Weeks.

Four other police officers were injured in the shooting; the suspect was killed. The agents found an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a 40-caliber pistol and ammunition at the scene.

The AR-15 is one of the most used weapons in mass shootings, and it is the type of weapon Biden is talking about when he says “assault weapons” should be banned. Congress passed one of the most comprehensive gun safety laws in 2022, following the Uvalde, Texas, school massacre. But Biden often says that this law is not enough.

In the midst of the November election campaign, Biden has made the need to reduce gun violence one of his main issues, as he tries to defend himself against attacks from Republican Donald Trump that he is soft on criminals and an enemy of the police .