SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Gov. Inslee owes us an explanation, apology for a deputy’s murder

Mar 21, 2019, 5:21 PM | Updated: 5:30 pm

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Both Gov. Jay Inslee and former Gov. Mike Huckabee owe Americans an apology for letting a criminal walk free. (Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Now we have a dead cop directly connected to illegal immigrants in Washington. We have confirmation from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

RELATED: ICE confirms suspect who shot Kittitas deputy was in U.S. illegally

Statement from ICE:
“Juan Manuel Flores Del Toro, a citizen of Mexico, was unlawfully present in the United States. He entered the U.S. on April 11, 2014 through a Laredo, Texas Land Port of Entry on a Temporary Agricultural Worker (H-2A) visa. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has no record of Flores Del Toro leaving the U.S., nor extending his visa after it expired.”

Anybody who thinks that this is somehow politically motivated, you don’t know me very well. Back when Mike Huckabee was running for the Republican Presidential nomination and it was revealed that Maurice Clemmons, the man who murdered four Lakewood Police Officers sitting in a coffee shop on a Sunday morning, had been sentenced over 100 years in prison in Arkansas and the governor of Arkansas, at the time, might have granted clemency to Maurice Clemmons, I went on this radio show and I said, “Well, I like Mike Huckabee on a lot of policies, but I would never vote for somebody who set free a guy who had a criminal history and went on to murder four of our local police officers.”

This isn’t about politics for me. This is about public officials who embrace policies that have dastardly, and too often, deadly consequences.

Let me remind you of a Jay Inslee quote I often replay on the show.

“Other places close their borders and fear the unfamiliar. We are the state that opens our communities to immigrants and refugees seeking safety, shelter, and sanctuary.” -Inlsee

I wonder if he was seeking safety or sanctuary when he came here?

Mike Huckabee, when he was running for president, he had to answer. He had to go on national TV. He had to explain why he let cop killer Maurice Clemmons go free through the governor’s clemency process.

“First of all, I think the tragedy of this — If I could have known nine years ago this guy was capable of something of this magnitude, obviously I would have never granted the commutation,” Huckabee said at the time. “It’s sickening. The two people I value the most are soldiers and police officers…”

Mike Huckabee had to do a big mea culpa because of his decision making as governor of Arkansas. I never could have supported him as a candidate. This has nothing to do with a Democrat or a Republican. This has to do with the horrible rationale embraced by Jay Inslee, Dow Constantine, and Jenny Durkan.

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Gov. Inslee owes us an explanation, apology for a deputy’s murder