Statement on the Passing of Detective Steven McDonald
The Gay Officers Action League extends our most heartfelt condolences to the family of Detective Steven McDonald. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Malverne Mayor Patricia Ann McDonald and their son, Sergeant Conor McDonald, our friend and ally in the NYPD, along with the entire McDonald Family.
Detective McDonald's unwavering commitment to compassion and forgiveness for all are qualities of a truly noble person. If Detective McDonald was only described as noble, it would be enough to hold him high and look to him as a model police officer and man.
But he was more than just a noble man. His love of family, of city, and of his fellow person - so much so that bound to a wheelchair and life support, he still devoted his energies to causes such as bridging the divide between communities anywhere, including the ever-delicate Northern Ireland peace process - compelled him to heal wounds and show us all that the space between different points of view, between groups seemingly too at odds to find compromise, is only as wide as our own capacity to understand, to forgive, and to love.
“There were two ways to move forward now and that was to love and forgive the boy who shot me, or as other people have done – condemn him, criticize him in the harshest terms for what he did to me and my family and friends, but God was there in our lives, guiding us, inspiring us,” - Detective Steven McDonald.
We will remain ever cognizant of Detective McDonald's remarkable and inspiring life journey and his message of love, forgiveness and compassion. And we will do our best to embody these qualities in our individual lives and collective work.
