Wife of officer murdered in St. Louis BLM riots says DA Kim Gardner to blame: 'Criminals get more rights'

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St. Louis DA Kimberly Garder needs to go: Ann Dorn, wife of slain officer

Ann Dorn said that Soros-backed district attorney Kimberly Gardner's soft-on-crime policies were correlated to her husband's murder during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots.

EXCLUSIVE – The wife of St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn, who was murdered during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, said embattled District Attorney Kim Gardner was partially responsible in an interview with Fox News Digital. 

"Criminals get more rights than the victims do" in St. Louis under Gardner, D., said Ann Dorn. 

"I believe with Kim Gardner's actions of not prosecuting anybody in past riots and the [former] Mayor [Lyda Krewson] giving the stand down order, I think that's a direct correlation to my husband losing his life, actually," said Dorn, who also worked at the police department before she retired.

"[Gardner] needs to be gone. I can almost speak for every officer in the city of St. Louis that, yes, they all agree that she has to be gone as well." 

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey gave Gardner, a George Soros-backed DA, an ultimatum on Feb. 22 — resign or face removal. Gardner claimed the attacks leveled against her were racially motivated. She is facing mounting pressure to leave office over her progressive approach.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner was pressured by the Missouri attorney general to resign.  (AP Photo/Jim Salter)

Dorn said, "She says that we're bullying her. You know, that we don't like her because she's a woman… because she's African-American – and it has nothing to do with that. You're put in a position to do your job. Crime is not political."

Dorn's husband was murdered on June 2, 2020, after checking in on a friend's shop, while "knowing that the city was consumed by violence and chaos."

"When he arrived at the shop, David confronted a few of the rioters outside, one of whom was a man named Stephan Cannon," Dorn previously explained. "David told them it wasn’t worth it, that there was little of value in the shop that wasn’t tightly locked up. Moments later Cannon shot David in the chest. He bled out on the sidewalk."

Cannon is a repeat violent criminal offender who violated his probation. "If he would have been in jail, things would not have gone down the way they did," Dorn said. 

He was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, unlawful possession of a firearm and three counts of armed criminal action in July 2022. 

St. Louis Police Capt. David Dorn was murdered during the Black Lives Matter riots on June 2, 2020.  (St Louis Metropolitan Police Department)

"[David] agreed that politics should not play a part in fighting crime. Criminals don't care if you're conservative or liberal…. They're not going to ask you are you a Democrat or Republican before they rob you or take your car... They don't ask those questions. So those questions shouldn't be asked or shouldn't come into play when it comes to this stuff. [David] was very outspoken about that," she told Fox News Digital. 

Regarding the crime spike, Dorn said St. Louis felt like a lawless place where criminals have more rights and freedoms at the peril of law-abiding citizens. "The victims really have no rights, and they don't get to have their voices heard. [Gardner]'s just out there pushing that and, unfortunately, people are suffering."

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She went on to compare the city to a fictional dystopian society.

"The movie ‘Purge’ – the St. Louis city environment has almost become that way. The criminals are on the streets because they know they got a free ticket," Dorn said. 

"The criminals in the city think they can just get away with anything, literally get away with murder."

In 2021, Gardner came under fire after three murder cases under her purview were dismissed in one week due to prosecutors in her office not showing up for hearings or being unprepared.

MY HUSBAND CAPT. DAVID DORN WAS MURDERED IN 2020 RIOTS. HIS KILLER HAD HELP DIVIDING AMERICA.

Ann Dorn speaks about her husband David, who was killed during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020. (Fox News Digital)

 BLM-ALIGNED COALITION DEMANDS RELEASE OF CONVICTED COP KILLERS

About the rioting that erupted in 2020, she said, "People's lives were destroyed. And not just mine. We had four officers shot that night. They have to live with that. We have people whose only means of sustaining their life is their business, and it's gone."

Asked how she has managed to deal with the tragedy, she said, "I can't change what's happened. You know, I am at peace somewhat in some ways. I am at peace with what has happened. And I don't want to be. But I have to be. I live my life."

She said she will continue to speak out against injustice to continue her husband's legacy. 

"I want to do right by David. I want to make sure his legacy is carried on. But I also – I was the wellness coordinator before I left the police department. I was responsible for the officers' mental wellness. I felt a responsibility to them. I was kind of mom, you know," she said.

"And I want to make sure their voices are heard. A lot of officers across the country don't have a voice because they're fearful of retaliation."

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About her husband, Dorn said, "David was a legacy. He was a great man. He spent 38 years in the city of St. Louis, dedicated his life. As a kid, he wanted to be a superhero. And for him being a superhero was being a police officer," she said. "There won't be anybody to fill his shoes, unfortunately."

"As a policeman, he was a great policeman. As a father, he was an even better father. He's a father figure to so many, not just his own kids, but so many other people in the community. He was always helping other people within his church, within our community. He loved his kids. He loved his grandkids even more."

"I never heard anybody say an ill word about him or how he did his job. And he was very honest and his integrity level was so high that, like I said, he can't be replaced."

Fox News' Michael Ruiz and Brianna Herlihy contributed to this report.