Dear Editor: The article about Catholic theologians (Dec. 20) referenced the incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y. However, it failed to mention that the perpetrator in Ferguson had just committed a robbery and violently attacked a police officer. It also failed to mention that the perpetrator in Staten Island was a career criminal with over 30 arrests who decided to resist arrest and caused the physical confrontation with the police.

The real tragedy of these incidents is that they were both preventable. If both perpetrators had not broken the law and obeyed the police, they would both be alive today. Perhaps the Catholic theologians should choose their causes more wisely.

PAUL MURPHY
Dyker Heights

Dear Editor: We should all be outraged by the article “Catholic Theologians Make a Mark Against Racial Injustice.” This was most likely written before the Dec. 19 murder of two NYPD policemen. The article only raises the racial tensions which is the reason for this terrible tragedy.

Incidents involving African Americans dying have nothing to do with race and the Missouri situation deals with a policeman defending himself. Regarding the so-called chokehold death, it remains unclear if the hold was really a chokehold.

The protesters in New York were yelling “what do we want” and then the response “dead cops.”

ANTHONY TUMOLO
Brooklyn