(The Washington Post published the following editorial on its website on June 11.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The sight on someone brandishing a hand grenade is enough to cause most people to flee for safety. That, however, was not the reaction of Amtrak Police Officer Rodney Chambers or U.S. Capitol Police Officer Michael DeCarlo on Monday evening. They spotted a man holding a grenade, which he had allegedly waved during a robbery attempt at Union Station a short time earlier. Instead of taking cover, the officers engaged the man in a struggle and managed to subdue him. And in an act of bravery that separates law enforcement from most civilian pursuits, sharp-eyed Officer Chambers took the mission of protecting the public to another level.
Noticing that the pin on the grenade had been pulled, the Amtrak officer seized the grenade and clasped his hand around the safety catch known as a spoon, to prevent it from detaching and causing an explosion. For at least 15 minutes, Officer Chambers held down the safety catch until the Capitol Police bomb disposal team arrived and took possession of the grenade. The man with the grenade, Juann Radwill Tubbs, was charged with threatening to use an explosive device to injure or damage property. Mr. Tubbs was also carrying a duffel bag containing an additional hand grenade. The Capitol Police took both grenades, secured them overnight in a “sphere” inside the bomb truck, and took them yesterday to a remote site where they were “rendered safe,” the Capitol Police said in a written statement. “Neither of the grenades had a detonator and both primers had been previously fired,” the statement said.
That neither grenade was live is beside the point. At the time Mr. Tubbs was allegedly threatening to detonate the device, no one knew whether the grenade was a live weapon. Assuming the worst, the officers put themselves at risk, with Officer DeCarlo gaining custody of Mr. Tubbs while Officer Chambers managed to take custody of the grenade. That’s courageous and praiseworthy action in anybody’s book.