He did everything he could to save his fellow officers from being hurt or killed by that drug dealer.
And he did everything he could to save that same criminal suspect's life when he suddenly stopped breathing.
Now I'm afraid that I'll lose him for good if he's wrongly convicted and put behind bars for a charge he's completely innocent of...
...and I don't know how I'll explain to his two young children - my grandchildren - that their dad won't be around for the next 20 years.
I'm sorry to be so direct - but if you're fortunate enough to spare a few dollars and a moment of your time to help me keep my son, Deputy Zachary Camden, out of prison... I pray to God that you will.
That's a picture of me and my son Zach right after he joined the Sheriff's Department in Williamson County, Texas.
As the mom of a cop, I always knew that Zach might be involved in dangerous, high-stakes situations.
But the last thing I expected was for him to become a political target when he tried to make an arrest on March 28, 2019.
That's the night Zach was called to help another deputy arrest a criminal named Javier Ambler.
Ambler had just led cops on a wild car chase - over 100 miles per hour!
For 22 minutes, Ambler drove on and off the pavement, hitting everything from road signs to fences. The chase ended when Ambler jerked his car off the road and crashed into a tree.
That's when the suspect swung his door open, jumped out, and rushed toward Deputy Johnson - the first officer on the scene.
Johnson yelled over and over: "GET ON THE GROUND!" But Ambler refused to listen.
It was the dead of the night, pitch black outside... and Deputy Johnson feared for his life.
So, he had no choice but to fire his police taser at the oncoming suspect.
A few moments later, my son Zach got to the scene and tried to help Deputy Johnson apprehend the suspect. But it wasn't that easy...
You see, Ambler weighed over 400 pounds.
So when he continued to resist, Deputy Johnson had to deploy his taser again.
It's a textbook way to get a situation under control without using lethal force... straight out of his days in the police academy.
But that's when things took an ugly turn. Ambler fell to the ground, limp.
Zach knew something was wrong and immediately began to perform CPR while he waited for the ambulance to arrive.
But it was too late. Just a few minutes after crashing into that tree, Ambler died on the scene.
In the official report, the medical examiner determined it was caused by "morbid obesity" and "congestive heart failure."
Zach called me the next day and told me what happened... and I could hear the shakiness in his voice.
Any line-of-duty death is hard for an officer, especially a young man like Zach.
But I was just thankful that he wasn't hurt or killed by the criminal suspect.
In fact, a few days later, Zach's supervisor praised him for how he handled the situation. He had followed his police training and did everything he could to apprehend the suspect and save the suspects life.
So I'm sure you can understand why our family was so shocked when Zach was charged with manslaughter OVER TWO YEARS LATER.
We couldn't make sense of why Zach was charged. . . until I found out that the newly elected District Attorney has a grudge against local law enforcement officers.
The D.A. - Jose Garza - ran a campaign that received nearly half a million dollars from George Soros, the anti-cop liberal behind the "Defund the Police" movement.
And to say "thank you" to Soros for helping him win his election, D.A. Garza has charged over 20 law enforcement officers since he took office.
My son is one of those five.
Now, instead of watching my son raise his own two little children, Zach is staring at 20 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.
And since our family doesn't have the financial means to stand up to the deep pockets and endless legal resources of this anti-cop DA, I'm reaching out to anybody who cares about our country's law enforcement officers to help Zach get the best possible attorneys so he's not wrongly convicted.
After my son was charged, we agonized for weeks about how we would possibly come up with the money to pay for the court fees, expert witnesses, and legal counsel needed to clear his name.
But as a 26-year-old who's now lost his job in the Williamson County Sheriff's Department, he doesn't have much saved up... and our family can only afford to spare so much of our life's savings before we go broke.
So when we got a call from Jason Johnson at the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund (LELDF), it felt like the clouds opened up above our heads.
If you've ever heard of the LELDF, you know that they're the best friend a law enforcement officer can have.
Jason told us the LELDF board agrees that my son is innocent, and they would help us cover the costs of Zach's legal expenses.
But as a non-profit organization, they need your help to raise the money so my son can afford the best attorneys possible.
That's why I'm about to ask you one of the hardest questions I've ever had to ask...
Would you please send the LELDF just $26 to help them defend Zach in court?
I don't mean to be dramatic, friend, but anything you can afford to give the LELDF to help them save my son has huge implications for the future of our country.
If Zach loses in court, not only will he go to prison for 20 years - but the left-wing, anti-cop prosecutors and activists will continue to do this again and again to police officers around the country.
I'm sure you've noticed the massive spike in crime and violence in our major cities over the past few years.
That's no accident...
That's a direct result of DAs like Jose Garza and their far-left billionaire campaign donors like George Soros waging war on good cops like my son.
And if they continue to lock up good cops for doing their jobs while releasing violent criminals back onto the streets - I can't imagine how much worse things will get.
Thankfully, the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund is standing up for cops and helping them beat these kinds of politically motivated charges and accusations.
Right now, they're helping over a dozen cops just like Zach afford the best possible attorneys so they're not wrongly convicted.
But like I mentioned, the LELDF relies almost entirely on folks like you to make generous charitable financial contributions.
That's why I'm asking you to consider sending the LELDF a tax-deductible gift of $26 or more today.
Not only to help them save my son and his family from being torn apart...
... but also to help them put an end to the perverse anti-cop culture sweeping our country.
Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.
And thank you on behalf of ever mother, wife, and child of an American Police officer. I hope they never have to go through a nightmare like mine.
With hope and thanks,
Katherine Branch
Deputy Zach Camden's mom
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More such officers who sacrifice so much for will face similar fates unless we speak out and stand up for the brave men and women in blue. The next time you see a police officer in your community, please thank them for their service. To read more about our mission or the other Law Enforcement officers we're defending, please visit www.leldf.org. And remember - Blue Lives Matter!
