‘I’m just proud’: Thurston County sheriff praises deputy’s handling of viral ‘Karen’ confrontation
Feb 13, 2026, 7:05 PM
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders responded to a viral video of a Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputy handling a woman confronting him about being parked at an elementary school.
“After watching it, I’m smiling, thinking to myself, like, I’m just proud, just generally proud,” Sanders told “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.
Sanders reposted the video on his Instagram Friday, explaining the situation.
View this post on Instagram
‘He handled it better than I would have,’ Sanders says
According to the sheriff, Deputy Domeno was parked at the school completing a report after a nearby collision. A woman approached him while recording, questioning why he was there. She told him he was “scaring families,” that he wasn’t part of the community, and that he shouldn’t be “lingering” near schools.
Domeno, who Sanders said is new on the job, calmly responded that he would try to finish his work quickly and leave.
Sanders commended Domeno and said he would add a letter to his personnel file recognizing how well he handled the situation.
“The first thing that went through my mind is that this deputy probably handled it better than I would have,” Sanders shared.
Sanders pushes back on woman’s ‘humanity’ remark
What bothered Sanders the most was when the woman remarked, “Until you demonstrate your humanity.”
“I don’t know what rock she’s been under, but the deputies at Thurston County Sheriff’s Office have been demonstrating humanity for a very, very long time,” he said.
Sanders added that the school district where this happened, in the north Thurston area, loves the sheriff’s office’s school resource officers.
“They beg us to sign that contract every year. We love working with them,” he said.
Sanders said the other deputies are rallying behind Domeno, and added that he and Domeno spoke after the incident.
“We kind of expressed our mutual respect for each other,” Sanders said. “He’s like, ‘Hey, thanks for sticking up for me.’ And then likewise, I’m like, ‘Well, thanks for being professional.’ I mean, it was easy to take that bait, the whole time the bait was there, to rip open, and you could have won that argument, but to just stay neutral and calm and collected.”
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
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