WASHINGTON, D.C. — Vice President JD Vance promised that the Trump administration will “stand behind the men and women in blue” through pro-police policies in a Thursday speech at the U.S. Capitol.
Vance took the stage at the Capitol’s West Lawn with several top federal officials during the annual National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service in honor of current, former and fallen law enforcement agents. Vance sent the message that a reign of “lawlessness” enabled by soft-on-crime policies across the country had come to an end.
“This administration will never disparage or degrade our police officers, and particularly not the memory of those who died defending our society,” Vance told his audience. “That is our promise, our sacred obligation: to never forget.”
(Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Hundreds of civilians, officers and their families attended from around the country to commemorate National Police Week.
Vance’s speech, beginning shortly after noon, focused on the personal sacrifices of police officers and what he sees as President Donald Trump’s law-and-order agenda. Border Czar Tom Homan, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and other top officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Marshals Service sat onstage as Vance spoke.
Uniformed “survivors” of the law enforcement profession and their families line up for a welcome at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Vice President J.D. Vance speaks onstage with top Trump administration officials seated behind him at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Vance said Americans must never allow the U.S. to become “a society that fails to enforce its own rules or that chooses to do so haphazardly.”
“Over the last few years, too many Americans saw exactly what that looks like,” Vance said. “City blocks and flames, storefront windows, shattered. Countless citizens made victims to random crime and mob violence in America.” The comments echoed chaotic scenes from anti-police Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
Vance also declared war on “the crisis we inherited at the border,” “the violent criminals” and “the cartels” as top priorities for law enforcement.
“I want to be clear about one last thing: The Trump administration has zero tolerance for anyone who threatens to defund, abolish, or otherwise diminish our law enforcement heroes,” Vance said, sparking applause and cheers.
“And I know that none of us here like crime, but last year in November, I think the American people killed the ‘defund the police’ movement, and they used Donald J. Trump as the murder weapon,” Vance declared. “It is gone from this country and we’re never gonna let it come back.”
A guest wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap is welcomed with other families and law enforcement at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
A couple in police uniform walk the U.S. Capitol Grounds at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
The vice president also said Trump has “no tolerance” for “ weak-willed municipal leaders” and “ people who defy our immigration laws or surrender entire blocks of their own cities to Antifa and other ridiculous organizations.”
“And perhaps worst of them all: We have no tolerance for far-left prosecutors, boosted in their elections by faraway billionaires, who come into office and simply decline to take action against criminals,” Vance told the crowd.
Law enforcement officers salute during a singing of the national anthem at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Vance honored multiple officers by name who died on duty in 2024, including St. Louis cop David Lee, and noted that Lee was allegedly killed by “an illegal immigrant, speeding and under the influence of alcohol.”
“ He died as he lived: serving others tirelessly without fail,” Vance said of Lee. “And he left behind a grieving wife and two beautiful children.”
A U.S. Border patrol agent stands with other law enforcement officers preparing to greet guests at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service on May 15, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Hudson Crozier/Daily Caller News Foundation)
Before Vance’s speech, a pre-recorded video by Trump drew applause when the president mentioned his Jan. 20 executive order “directing Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for any criminal who murders a police officer.” Trump signed another order in April that he said would enable police across the country do their jobs more effectively.
♂️ With a cop siren in the background, Trump draws cheers with his message at a law enforcement memorial service:
“On my first day in office, I signed an executive order directing Department of Justice to seek the death penalty for any criminal who murders a police officer.” pic.twitter.com/z73J854icj
— Hudson Crozier
♂️ With a cop siren in the background, Trump draws cheers with his message at a law enforcement memorial service:
(@Hudson_Crozier) “We are proud to stand behind the men and women in blue, and we will keep on doing it every day for the next three and a half years,” Vance said. “God bless you.”
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