SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: As Antifa slanders cops, an officer gives his life to save shooting victims

Nov 8, 2018, 3:33 PM | Updated: 3:40 pm

California shooting...

This undated photo provided by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department shows Sheriff's Sgt. Ron Helus, who was killed Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2018, in a deadly shooting at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Ventura County Sheriff's Department via AP)

(Ventura County Sheriff's Department via AP)

We woke up Thursday morning to the awful news of the California shooting. The officer who was close to retirement went into that Thousand Oaks bar to try to stop the gunman, and in the process, lost his own life.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Portland Wednesday night, the Antifa activists held an open-borders march, calling for literally opening our borders to immigrants. But, like so many of these leftist rallies, it soon devolved into an absolute melee of anti-cop hatred. With masks over their faces, the he cop-hating mob started shouting chants like, “All cops are [expletive],” and giving nonsense statistics like, “40 percent of cops hit their wives.”

I watched a lot of video of the hatred-filled rally in Portland Wednesday night. And then, a few hours later, I heard the news of the California shooting, and with it, the story of a cop who does not fit what these Portland mobs were saying. This police officer ran into a bar where bullets were flying. He was close to retirement. He called his wife right before he raced to the scene to tell her that he loved her. And then this husband and father was gunned down trying to save lives.

RELATED: Portland police instructed to do nothing as Antifa mobs take over streets

I think about what’s happening on the left in America. People chanting those hateful statements in Portland. The manifestly anti-cop initiative that we just passed two days ago in Washington. Our police departments cannot fill spots because no one wants to be a cop in this atmosphere. You have city council members who call them murderers and give them no support whatsoever. You have policies designed to attract as many drug-addicted criminal vagrants as possible to our region. And the cops’ hands are tied.

You have that kind of hatred, and yet, where would we be if officers were not willing to run into bars where bullets are flying? What has happened with the left in America, where people in Portland can chant those horrific statements and not realize that without cops, we would have anarchy?

It was so ironic that as that anti-cop hatred was spewing in our sister city to the south, we had a heroic law enforcement officer in California, Ventura County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ron Helus, who made the ultimate sacrifice — he gave his life — trying to save others.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

FILE - A U.S. Army soldier walks past a Bradley fighting vehicle staged in West Potomac Park ahead ...

Associated Press

White House wants veterans to replace immigrant truckers who lost their licenses in crackdown

The Trump administration wants soldiers to consider becoming truck drivers when they leave the military to help replace the tens of thousands of immigrant drivers who lost their licenses in a crackdown this year. A new campaign launched Friday will promote programs that let veterans who recently drove large military vehicles skip the required skills […]

20 minutes ago

Kitsap boat hit-and-run...

Jason Sutich

Fishing trip cut short by hit-and-run boat crash in Kitsap County

A boat departing a Kitsap County marina, embarking on a fishing trip, suffered a hit-and-run crash Thursday after another vessel drove into the boat and fled.

32 minutes ago

Associated Press

11 indicted in smuggling deaths of 7 migrants in rail cargo container in Texas

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A U.S. attorney announced a federal indictment on Friday against 11 people in the smuggling deaths of seven migrants who were hiding inside a sweltering rail cargo container in Texas in May. Six people were found dead inside the shipping container in a rail yard in Laredo, Texas, and another had […]

41 minutes ago

pierce county dogs rescued car...

KIRO 7 News Staff

4 puppies, 3 dogs rescued from hot car in Pierce County

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office rescued a total of seven dogs from a hot van earlier this week.

1 hour ago

...

No Author

Win Tickets to See Santana with The Doobie Brothers at White River Amphitheatre!

Join Grammy Award-winning Rock & Roll Hall of Fame guitarists and icons for one legendary night! KIRO Newsradio and Seattle Sports are giving away two tickets to see Santana and The Doobie Brothers at the White River Amphitheatre on Thursday, August 6th, 2026! Enter below for your chance to witness this unforgettable show live! A […]

1 hour ago

President Donald Trump is seen speaking from the East Room on a television in the West Wing of the ...

Associated Press

White House correspondents’ dinner, redux: What will Trump have to say?

When guests arrive for the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Friday at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria hotel, security will be much tighter, the guest list smaller, the partying pared down. That much, the correspondents’ association can control. What remains out of its control — and perhaps the biggest question — is what the dinner’s […]

2 hours ago

Dori: As Antifa slanders cops, an officer gives his life to save shooting victims