Tribute to Slain Cop Canceled

Sgt Ron Helus


There is a very troubling story coming out of Southern California this week. This coming Sunday, there was a charity event scheduled dedicated to Ron Helus, the police officer from Ventura County who was killed in the line of duty during the Borderline Bar and Grill mass shooting last year. A flag football game was scheduled as part of the event, and the Los Angeles Rams had contributed jerseys and autographed footballs. Now the police chief of Thousand Oaks, Tim Hagel, has backed out of his department's involvement in the event. The reason seems to be that he objects to the participation of certain individuals who are Republicans and/or Trump supporters.

https://www.foxla.com/news/borderline-mass-shooting-charity-event-canceled-due-to-trump-supporter-controversy?fbclid=IwAR03ASMyzzXQDGLGeKo3KQE7Wm0O9xizeuoxf72LFnpqkuIbVl_gA9dmLXk

This afternoon, Mike Randall, Vice President of the Fallen Officers Foundation, who is mentioned in the above link, was interviewed on the John and Ken radio show (640 AM, Los Angeles). I did not catch all of it, but he did specifically state that his organization and the planned event were not political.

Here is my take based on what I know, which is what is being reported in the news. If this event were planned to be some some of Trump-Make America Great Again and bash Democrats affair, I would understand the chief's position. Mr Randall states that was not the case, and indeed, someone from Governor Gavin Newsome's staff was scheduled to participate. Newsome is a Democrat and a wildly left-wing one at that.

I have been retired from law enforcement since 1995. Without getting into politics and the whole Democrat-Republican issue, back in my day, you could pretty much count on people in law enforcement being on the right side of most issues. Given my experience in the past several years, I am not so sure about that any more.

However, I have not yet heard Chief Hagel's side of the story. No doubt he will have plenty of chances to tell it because there is a firestorm of protest and outrage going on out here in Southern California about this. If he can't make the case that this event was being "hijacked" by right-wing activists, there is going to be a lot of pressure on him to resign. When it comes to paying tribute to fallen police officers, politics should be put aside. By the same token, we shouldn't be counting how many members of this or that party will be participating or attending.