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[Pages S2686-S2687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING NATE LYDAY
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, it is with a very heavy heart that I stand
today in
[[Page S2687]]
the Senate to talk about the death of two Americans last week. One
tragedy is tearing our communities apart. The other may well show us a
path back toward unity.
We all know about the brutal, senseless killing of George Floyd in
Minneapolis last Monday. There is no excuse for what the police did to
Mr. Floyd. His killers are being brought to justice.
His death, we hope, will not be remembered for the senseless violence
launched falsely in his name but, rather, hopefully, in the long-term
reform of policing policies across our country.
In my home State of Utah, the city of Ogden is mourning another
death, that of Police Officer Nate Lyday.
On Thursday, May 28, a woman called 9-1-1 saying that her husband was
threatening her life. Lyday and a group of officers arrived promptly at
the house. The man began shooting at them from inside the home. Lyday
was mortally wounded.
He was just 24 years old. He was about to celebrate his fifth wedding
anniversary with his wife Ashley.
He had been on the job as a police officer for just 15 months. By all
accounts, he did that job honorably and completely up to the last
moment. Nate Lyday was an officer who sought to uphold justice and
protect the innocent, even making the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of a
threatened and fearful family.
Nate Lyday was a ``son of Ogden,'' as Police Chief Randy Watt said.
Ogden was where he was born and raised, where he went to high school,
and where he worked on a regular basis at the Fresh Market on 20th
Street and where he got his degree in criminal justice from Weber State
University.
And it was where he was proud to serve and protect his community as a
sworn police officer. According to Lieutenant Brian Eynon, Lyday was an
officer who ``worked over and above the call of duty.'' Eynon said that
whenever he passed Lyday in the hallways, the young officer would
always smile at him, even before he had a chance to smile first.
As his colleagues, his friends, and his classmates remember him, Nate
Lyday made everyone around him feel like a friend, no matter how well
they knew him because they were indeed his friends.
This Saturday, while far too many other communities throughout our
Nation were tearing themselves apart, Ogden came together. Hundreds of
Ogden residents gathered near the front steps of the Ogden Municipal
Building to honor the memory of George Floyd and to call for nationwide
police reform.
But this was not a divisive event designed to make everyone choose
sides between police and protesters. As Malik Dayo, an Ogden activist
and organizer, said that day:
This is a peaceful protest. . . . This is not an anti-cop
rally. This is a solidarity rally.
The protesters at the event honored George's memory, they condemned
racism, and they called for policing reforms. They also thanked the
officers who were there, the same officers there protecting them and
protecting their First Amendment rights to speak freely and gather
peacefully. And they honored the memory of Officer Lyday, who lost his
life answering the call of duty just a few days before.
``I gave them my condolences for their fallen officer--our fallen
officer--because we're all part of the same community,'' Dayo said of
the police after the protest.
And Dayo is right. Nate Lyday's loss is our loss. George Floyd's loss
is our loss. And we ought to honor and remember them both.
We must all work to uphold justice for all. Both of these tragic,
horrific deaths last week show us just how far we still have to go to
achieve this goal. It is work that must be undertaken by each and every
one of us, each and every day. We cannot do that work by pitting
ourselves against one another--race versus race, police versus
protester.
We will never move forward if we continue to reduce human beings to
the color of their skin or the color of their uniform. We are all one
Nation, and it will only be in standing and in working together, in
peaceful solidarity, that we can finally heal the wounds in our Nation.
What the people of Ogden did this weekend is an example for us all.
And it is a reason for hope.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
____________________
