A 100-year-old Navy veteran accepting an award from U.S. Sen. Rob Wyden in Portland, Oregon, had some choice words for protesters who interrupted him with cries of, “Hands-up, don’t shoot!” before he could speak.
Dario Raschio was receiving a special honor at Portland Community College when more than 100 protesters reportedly stormed the auditorium, holding up signs, banging on windows, and chanting rally calls that have become synonymous with those of thousands of protesters in the wake of Michael Brown and Eric Garner’s deaths, reports The Oregonian.
Raschio and his daughter, Pam Brown, were seated in the front row when the demonstrators began shouting, “I can’t breathe.” Wyden was reportedly able to quiet down the crowd long enough to ask that he be allowed to continue presenting the veteran with a frame filled with medals, which included the U.S. Naval Aviator Badge, the American Campaign Medal, and American Defense Service Medal.
Raschio, who joined the Navy at age 27, reportedly served as a pilot for observational planes and took part in five campaigns in the Pacific Theatre. Despite being hailed as a “hero” by the elected official, he chose not to address his many accomplishments and to instead speak about what he was witnessing at the campus that day.
“Give me a chance,” Raschio reportedly told protesters as he began to speak. When he asked that demonstrators “show a little respect for the occasion,” the audience reportedly clapped and cheered.
After accepting the medals on behalf of those who lost their lives in WWII, Raschio said, “God bless America. And you people that are here for a cause, whatever it might be – show respect to Sen. Wyden.”
Wyden returned the favor by following Raschio’s speech with, “One of the reasons that we can come here today and be heard and express our views is because of veterans like Dario.”
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