The morning of October 7 is a day recognized among law enforcement officers in the United States of America, as well as the people of Israel. Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole has returned from a trip to that country to be trained in terrorism response.
Cole was able to take this opportunity because he serves on the National Sheriff’s Association Board and is on their Border Security Committee.
“So, my invite to Israel was through the National Sheriff’s Association. And it was all sponsored by an organization called JINSA, which stands for the Jewish Institute for National Security,” said Cole.
He said that through this sponsorship, the airplane flight, hotels, meals, everything, was funded by JINSA and costed neither him or the County and money.
Security was with he and the four other U.S. sheriffs who were invited. He said that the security personnel met them at the airport in Tel Aviv-Yafo and escorted them to the hotel. He said there was never a time where he did not feel safe on his trip.
Cole then explained why he thought it beneficial to go on this trip, saying that there is a similarity between the U.S. and Israel concerning adversarial conflict.
He said that the trip was necessary because there are folks and countries who detest Israel, and that this is likened the detestation the U.S.
“So, I think as a law enforcement leader, I owe it to the community to do everything in our power to prepare our deputies for an unfortunate attack here in our community,” said Cole.
Cole said that he prays that an attack does not happen in the community, and that there is no intelligence or evidence to suggest that an attack will happen.
“But we need to be prepared in the event that it does happen,” he said.
He explained that taking the trip was a decision that he did not take lightly, saying that his wife and children had to sign off on it.
Furthermore, he explained that he and his wife have been a part of the community and Sheriff’s Office for close to 40 years, and that they each understand the necessity of such a trip.
Now, Cole talked about two reasons for taking the trip in addition to the training he received. One of these reasons was for cultural education, he explained how different the police force operates in Israel, and how many stations have in them personnel of all three Abrahamic Religions.
“But the third reason is I want to be a voice for the heroes on the morning of October 7. The citizens of Mason County will never get to meet these young men and women,” said Cole.
The NOVA music festival was held in Re’im on that October morning, 340 people were killed by the Palestinian political and militant group HAMAS. The training Cole and the other sheriffs received on this trip was a response to the, “slaughter,” as Cole described it.
He met three Israeli police officers who helped citizens survive the attack, saying that there were 45 police officers assigned to the festival.
“15 would be slaughtered that morning,” said he.
Now, he talked about how the police and military response operates in Israel, saying that they do not operate with city police departments, sheriff’s departments, or state troopers as the U.S. is accustomed to.
They rather have the Israeli National Police and the Israeli Defense Force. The IDF is the military, which is most prevalent in the northern part of the country.
“One young man I met had a pistol and two magazines, and he was in a two hour gunfight with the terrorists. And that was with just his hand gun, and two magazines,” said Cole.
Cole said that he learned in his tours of the local INP stations that each officer is equipped with a 9mm pistol and two magazines, maybe 28 bullets.
He then described how the young man fell face down after a Rocket-Propelled Grenade launcher was fired at him.
“It knocked him flat on his face. His story goes that he was going to play dead and just hope the terrorists would just pass him by, but he had his gun in his hand in case they didn’t. While he laid there he happened to look up and saw them killing young Israeli men and women who were just trying to give up,” said Cole.
After this sight is when the young man chose to engage in that two-hour gunfight.
Cole then told of one of that young man’s partners. He took 300 of the people attending the festival and retreated to a gas station, locking themselves in.
HAMAS leveled police stations, cars, and lives that morning as Cole described. The attackers shot at cars full of citizens and families that were driving by.
They tossed incendiary grenades into ambulances and cars, burning the victims before they could open the doors and escape. The photos that Cole shared of the cars looked as if they had been sitting in scrap yards for decades, they were unrecognizable.
A memorial site of those perished is in Re’im, along with the cars.
“The theme I gathered from talking to people when I was in Israel was, ‘please tell America we just want to smile.’ They deserved to have a good life like every American, young like them and old like me,” said Cole.
Cole mentioned again that there is no intelligence or evidence to suggest an event will happen in Mason County. He stresses the need to be prepared, which is why deputies in the office are being trained in the things that Cole learned on his trip.
“The training of which I took, we are passing onto the men and women here at our agency,” said Cole.
