Talk of unity rings hollow after citizens killed by federal agents – Editorial – Las Vegas Sun
February 2, 2026
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Editorial:
Talk of unity rings hollow after citizens killed by federal agents
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026 | 2 a.m.
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In moments of national trauma, the words of elected officials matter — not because they can undo harm, but because they signal whether those in power understand what has gone wrong and what must change. Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo’s response to the recent shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis does neither, although we remain pleased he roused himself to comment at all in this time when Republicans pull the covers over their heads and hide from the horrors their president and their party deliver to America.
Be that as it may, the content of Lombardo’s statement is unsettling. It gestures toward calm and unity while sidestepping the brutal facts of what occurred, and in doing so, it exemplifies a dangerous kind of manipulative political evasion.
In a statement last week, Lombardo said he and his wife were “distressed” by the events in Minnesota. He called for protecting the right to assemble “safely and peaceably” and urged Americans to lower the temperature of the national debate by “listening more to people who hold different viewpoints.”
These are pleasant sentiments, but in this context they ring hollow. The problem in Minneapolis is not a failure of civility among protesters or a lack of listening among the broader public. It is the conduct of federal agents who, in the face of peaceful protesters doing nothing more than exercising their constitutional rights, chose to become the violent aggressors they claim to abhor.
Against this backdrop, Lombardo’s call to protect the right to assemble safely and peacefully, and to listen to each other, is not only too little, too late, but also a tragic bastardization of the threat now faced by every person who calls the United States home.
Federal agents were not protecting the right to assemble when they tackled Alex Pretti to the ground and shot him in the back. They were not “listening” when Renée Good calmly told an agent, “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you,” moments before that agent shot her in the head and killed her.
Any serious response to the tragedies must begin with recognition that, in both cases, it was the federal agents, acting under the guidance and leadership of President Donald Trump and his minions, who broke the peace, refused to listen and made the situation unsafe, not the other way around.
Yet Lombardo’s statement quickly pivoted away from these killings and toward a reaffirmation of his “unwavering support” for Trump’s immigration agenda, including border security and the removal of violent and repeat criminal offenders. In the abstract, that position is uncontroversial. The United States has a right to enforce its laws and to prioritize public safety. But the abstraction bears little resemblance to reality as it is currently unfolding.
Demonstrator holds signs during a protest outside the office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Minneapolis, after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer over the weekend. Photo by: Adam Gray / APDemonstrator holds signs during a protest outside the office of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Minneapolis, after Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol officer over the weekend. Photo by: Adam Gray / AP
Alex Pretti and Renée Good were not violent criminals. Nor were they attempting to cross the border illegally. They were American citizens who were killed for exercising their constitutional rights. Period. Full stop.
Lombardo’s detachment from reality becomes even more glaring when viewed alongside the broader sweep of federal immigration enforcement. It strains credulity to suggest that the 2-month-old infant held in a Texas detention center is a public safety threat. The same is true of the 5-year-old detained earlier this month in Minnesota and transferred to Texas, the 7-year-old detained when her parents took her to a Portland, Ore., hospital or the 6-year-old taken from his home in Chicago during “Operation Midway Blitz.”
According to reporting by the Marshall Project, at least 3,800 children under 18 — including 20 infants — were booked into ICE custody during the first 10 months of Trump’s second term. Save the occasional teen, none of them are violent criminals of any kind.
Criticizing Lombardo for ignoring these realities is not an inherently partisan exercise. Lombardo may have supported Trump’s most dangerous and threatening policies, but that is not the reason for our critique today. Our criticism is of his tone-deaf leadership, startling lack of empathy and complete inability to understand the consequences of current federal policy under Trump.
There is, however, a contrasting example worth noting. U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei, Nevada’s lone Republican in Congress and a Trump supporter himself, issued a statement that meets the moment with at least some clarity. Last week, Amodei called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pivot back to its “core mission,” to prioritize the most dangerous criminal aliens and to focus on individuals who have already received final orders of removal after due process.
More importantly, Amodei paired rhetoric with action. Using his seat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, he has pushed for the use of body cameras to become standard for ICE and related federal agents operating in American communities. Such cameras would protect officers, provide transparency and create an objective record when force is used. They are a concrete step toward accountability for federal agents and violent protesters alike.
The contrast could not be clearer. Lombardo offered language that obscures responsibility and distorts reality. Amodei confronted the problem directly, acknowledging both the need for enforcement and the necessity of oversight and accountability. At a time when federal power is increasingly exercised with deadly consequences, Nevada’s Republican leaders have shown two very different models of response.
Of course, any response from a GOP leader that challenges, or even questions, the Trump administration is a welcome surprise. Too often over the past nine years, Republican leaders have more closely resembled bootlicking lapdogs looking for handouts than proud Americans and independent policymakers looking to work hard for a prosperous nation.
Indeed, Lombardo and Amodei deserve some praise for speaking out against their king. Lombardo’s tone-deaf statements are better than silence, and Amodei even appears to understand the issues at stake and the need for immediate changes to ICE operations.
We hope that both men will continue to speak out in favor of accountability for federal agents and the leaders who provide their marching orders. But we also hope that voters hold them, and every other MAGA Republican, accountable for beating the drum for Trump as he led the nation down the tragic path on which we now find ourselves.
Editor’s Note: An important editorial from The Las Vegas Sun. Posted fully to share. –DrWeb
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