Final night of RNC weaves together narrative of race, law and order under Trump

On the final night of the Republican National Convention, featured speakers emphasized President Trump's signature focus on law-and-order leadership.

Ann Dorn, the widow of former police Capt. David Dorn, who was killed earlier this summer defending a friend's store during the riots that ravaged St. Louis, spoke about the personal devastation of losing her husband.

"I re-live that horror in my mind every single day," Dorn said. "David is never coming back. He was murdered by people who didn’t know, and didn’t care, that he would have done anything to help them." 

She spoke of the need for healing in the nation and Trump's understanding that "We need more Davids in our communities, not fewer."

Speaking on behalf of law enforcement officers, Patrick Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York, argued that Democrats failed over roughly the past five months to confront mob violence and the disregard for the rule of law that has beset the states and cities they run.

"Democratic politicians have surrendered our streets and institutions. The loudest voices have taken control, and our so-called 'leaders' are scrambling to catch up to them," said Lynch, "The Democrats have walked away from us."

Lynch, who has been a New York City police officer for more than 35 years, says that "wherever Democrats are in power, the radical left is getting exactly what they want. And our country is suffering for it."

Trump, on the other hand, he said, "gives law enforcement the support and tools to put a stop to it." 

Alice Marie Johnson spoke about the Trump administration's work on the First Step Act, which works to improve the outcome of the criminal justice system while reducing the size of the federal prison population.

"Six months after President Trump granted me a second chance, he signed the First Step Act into law. It was real justice reform," she said. 

Johnson is a former federal prisoner who was given a second chance when Trump granted her clemency on the advice of media mogul and lawyer-in-training Kim Kardashian. The single mother was sentenced in 1996 to five concurrent life sentences without the chance of parole for a first time non-violent drug charge.

Johnson's sentence was made possible under the 1994 crime bill that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden authored, sponsored, and at the time, championed. 

Since her release, Johnson has become a prominent voice supporting Trump's justice reform efforts.

She spoke about the president's compassion upon hearing of her case and her gratitude for the second chance she has received.

"Imagine getting to hug your loved ones again," she said. "It is a feeling I will never forget." 

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani warned convention viewers that, if elected, Democrats will pivot entirely away from the rule of law and destroy the nation the way they have destroyed Democrat-run cities.

"The Democrats want to change our system of government and the most basic values we cherish ... Don’t let Democrats do to America what they have done to New York!" said Giuliani, a Trump adviser who as mayor of New York enacted tough anti-crime measures that revived the once-struggling city and its economy.

Speaking about the "unprecedented wave of lawlessness" that has plagued most major American cities since late May, Giuliani said of the Democratic leadership in those cities: "Their silence was so deafening that it reveals an acceptance of this violence because they will accept anything they hope will defeat President Donald Trump."