LA County sheriff fires back at anti-police activists who said they hoped injured deputies died

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has a stern message for the anti-police activists who wished for the deaths of two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who were ambushed while sitting in their patrol vehicle over the weekend.

What's the background?

As TheBlaze reported, shortly after the deputies were ambushed Saturday night, alleged Black Lives Matter activists stormed the hospital where the deputies were taken for emergency surgery.

Witnesses said they saw the protesters attempt to block hospital entrances and exists. Meanwhile, numerous social media videos showed the anti-police activists telling law enforcement officers outside the hospital that they hoped the injured officers would die; others even threatened that they would kill every police officer "one by one."

What did Villanueva say?

During an interview Tuesday on Fox News, Villanueva said those activists who shouted "we hope they die," referring to the injured officers, are "almost worthy of ISIS."

"It's just a new low for hatred that I don't think anyone in this nation has ever seen before, and it's something almost worthy of ISIS," Villanueva said.

"We just don't expect it on our own shores," he continued. "We have been here fighting to save people's lives across the county — it doesn't matter who you are. It is not something we are going to expect or tolerate."

Later in the interview, Villanueva also challenged Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, whom Villanueva has called on to match the reward money for Saturday's crime.

On Monday, Villanueva said publicly:

This challenge is to LeBron James. I want you to match that and double that reward. I know you care about law enforcement. You expressed a very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African American community. And I appreciated that. But likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across professions, across races, creeds, and I'd like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.

During his interview on Fox News, Villanueva said James has not yet responded to him — but said the NBA superstar needs "to take some ownership of exactly what he said in terms of propagating the idea that people are being hunted everywhere because of the color of their skin."

James said in May, in response to uproar over the death of Ahmaud Arbery, that black people "literally hunted EVERYDAY/EVERYTIME we step foot outside the comfort of our homes!"

Villanueva said, "I think that is just flat out not the case."

"I think we need to hold those accountable for breaking the law, be it law enforcement when we are crossing the line," Villanueva added. "But then we have to acknowledge the bigger problem of violence overall and this ambush, cowardly ambush, of the two deputies just doing their own job, doing their business there in Compton, really illustrates that. That is the problem we need to address."