SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: How dare Jay Inslee Tweet during Deputy Ryan Thompson’s funeral?

Mar 30, 2019, 6:05 AM

Jay Inslee, campaign song...

(AP)

(AP)

We found out Thursday afternoon that Governor Jay Inslee was specifically dis-invited to the memorial for Kittitas County Deputy Ryan Thompson.

As I said last week, when this cop was killed by an illegal immigrant, Jay Inslee had to accept some responsibility. He has declared many times that Washington is a sanctuary state. He encourages as many illegal immigrants as possible to come into our state. And so, when an illegal immigrant kills a cop — as has happened multiple times here in Washington — he has to take ownership of the consequences of his policy.

I am now assuming that Deputy Thompson’s family feels the same way, and that for that reason, they asked the governor not to attend the funeral. I can think of no other reason why they would have asked him not to come.

RELATED: Jay Inslee owes us an explanation, apology for deputy’s murder

After I talked about this on-air, a listener who was at the memorial reached out to me on Twitter and wrote this.

I sat next to a mom of a deputy at today’s service. Jay Inslee was Tweeting in the middle of the service. To see the pain in my son’s eyes, the pain in all the officers’ eyes, and the pain in the eyes of Ryan Thompson’s family, was absolutely heartbreaking.

I couldn’t just take that at face value. I thought that seemed impossible. There’s no way he would be campaign-Tweeting right as the memorial service was getting going. I would think he would pause his presidential aspirations for 90 minutes as Ryan Thompson’s family, friends, and colleagues were honoring him and laying him to rest. Surely Jay Inslee would respect that.

I went to Jay Inslee’s Twitter account. The memorial service started at 2 p.m. At 2:24 p.m., he sent the following Tweet.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. As Ryan Thompson was being laid to rest, Jay Inslee was Tweeting for his desperate presidential campaign.

After I commented on this on Twitter, the mom who had reached out to me sent me another Tweet.

It was horrible and heartbreaking. It made a sad day more sad. Both of our sons had been on calls with Deputy Ryan Thompson. He was a great guy.

I know that politics tends to remove the humanity from people. But, as big a critic as I’ve been of Jay Inslee and of his politics, his lying about taxes, his presidential campaign — in which he polls at less than a percent — that is costing our tax dollars as State Patrol troopers fly around the country on the campaign trail to protect him, I couldn’t believe this latest one.

This was a tone-deaf, callous new low he sank to that I found just sickening. You know me — usually I’m in a rage over a story like this. But I’m not furious. I’m sick and I’m sad. I’m depressed that this guy is our governor. I’m heartbroken that his presidential aspirations were more important than respect for a fallen cop in his state, and that he would campaign-Tweet just 24 minutes after the memorial service started.

Everything that day should have been focused, like a laser beam, on honoring the fallen trooper. And I found Inslee’s self-serving behavior sickening.

Associated Press

Anger and outrage spills onto Minneapolis streets after ICE officer’s fatal shooting of Renee Good

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — As anger and outrage spilled out onto Minneapolis’ streets Thursday over the fatal shooting of a woman the day before by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, a new shooting by federal officers in Oregon left two people wounded and elicited more scrutiny of enforcement operations across the U.S. Hundreds of people […]

1 hour ago

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing, Thursday , Dec. 18, 202...

Associated Press

Luigi Mangione heads to court as he fights to block death penalty, murder charge and key evidence

NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione is due in federal court Friday for a pivotal hearing in his fight to bar the government from seeking the death penalty against him in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Asian shares rise and US futures are flat after modest Wall Street moves

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Friday following mixed moves on Wall Street, where President Donald Trump’s talk of raising defense spending spurred a rally in military-related shares. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.1% to 51,692,70. Shares of Fast Retailing, the fashion company behind Uniqlo, jumped more than 7% after its quarterly […]

2 hours ago

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., attends an announcement at Health and Hu...

Associated Press

5 states sue Trump administration for withholding billions in social safety net funds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs, citing concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families. The states — California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York — called the […]

3 hours ago

The Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center...

James Lynch

Shoreline 17-year-old pleads not guilty to murdering Bellevue teen

A Shoreline 17-year-old denies charges of murdering a Bellevue High School freshman last June.

4 hours ago

Bothell murder suspect arrested...

Jason Sutich

Bremerton man arrested after missing Bothell woman found dead

A Bremerton man was arrested Wednesday for the murder of Mallory Barbour, a Bothell woman who was missing for several months until her human remains were found.

4 hours ago

Dori: How dare Jay Inslee Tweet during Deputy Ryan Thompson’s funeral?