Sen. Dave McCormick’s response to the killings in Minneapolis is not just inadequate — it is indefensible.

Two innocent people were killed by federal agents in broad daylight. They were not suspects, not aggressors, not threats. Video footage, viewed by millions, shows no imminent danger and no justification for lethal force. Yet instead of demanding accountability, Sen. McCormick rushed to defend ICE and redirect scrutiny away from the agents involved.

That choice matters.

The senator cites dramatic increases in assaults and threats against ICE officers as if those numbers exist in a vacuum. They do not. Public outrage did not materialize out of nowhere — it is a reaction to years of unchecked cruelty and documented abuses. ICE has used a five-year-old child as bait. It has illegally detained a two-year-old and sent her across state lines. It has targeted families seeking medical care and fired chemical agents at peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.

This is not “upholding the rule of law.” It is the erosion of it.

Equally troubling is Sen. McCormick’s dismissal of protesters as “paid activists.” Pennsylvanians and Americans across the country are showing up because conscience demands it–not because anyone is paying them. Suggesting otherwise is lazy, insulting, and designed to delegitimize dissent.

Anger is not the problem. State violence without accountability is.

History will remember who demanded justice–and who chose to excuse the inexcusable.

KATHLEEN SMITH

Boalsburg

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom