Reporter who ripped Putin is slain in Kiev

the department, met with the chief Tuesday and told him he regretted posting a comment saying he hoped activist Hogg would get hit by an out-of-control car at Friday’s “die-in” protest at Publix. He told his supervisors it was meant as a joke, but he now realizes it was not funny.

He plans to apologize in person to Hogg and other organizers of the event.

“Cops are meant to protect and serve communities, not spread hate and violence among them,” Hogg said.

Hogg, who helped start the #NeverAgain movement after the Feb. 14 shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, organized last Friday’s anti-NRA event at Publix. The protests centered on the chain’s donations to gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam, a self-proclaimed “proud #NRASellout.” Seventeen people died in the Feb. 14 shooting.

People around the country called for Valenti to be suspended or fired for the offensive remark, which was posted under a photo of Hogg in a Publix parking lot.

In the comment, Valenti said he hoped “some old lady loses control of her car in that lot.” Valenti later deleted the comment. KIEV, Ukraine — A Russian journalist harshly critical of the Kremlin was shot and killed in the Ukrainian capital Tuesday, and the national police said they are assuming he was targeted because of his work.

Ukrainian police said Arkady Babchenko’s wife found him bleeding at their apartment building in Kiev and called an ambulance, but Babchenko died on the way to a hospital.

Police said he had multiple gunshot wounds on his back.

“The first and the most obvious version is his professional activities,” Kiev Police Chief Andriy Krishchenko said.

Babchenko (photo), 41, was scathingly critical of the Kremlin’s policies, assailing the Vladimir Putin regime’s annexation of Crimea, its support for separatist insurgents in Ukraine and the Russian campaign in Syria.

Another renowned journalist, Pavel Sheremet, who had worked for Russian media outlets in the past, was killed in a car bombing in Kiev in 2016. The case is unsolved.