Statements from Republican elected officials, polls of the American people, Conservative groups, and local law enforcement in Minnesota are all flashing serious warning signs for Republican Senate candidates

Atlanta, Ga. – Yesterday, amidst growing bipartisan shock and outrage at the chaos from massive deployments of Federal forces in American cities, Senator Jon Ossoff challenged his Republican opponents to oppose “police state tactics” to side with the growing number of Americans alarmed by the Trump Administration’s egregious abuses of Americans’ civil liberties. 

READ HERE for more on Senator Ossoff’s challenge to opponents yesterday. 

Now, Senator Ossoff is pressing his opponents further and calling on Georgia U.S. Senate candidates Derek Dooley, Buddy Carter, and Mike Collins to join a growing list of Republican elected officials calling for a full, independent investigation into Alex Pretti’s killing: 

“Will one, even ONE, Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia join other GOP leaders who are calling for a full, transparent, independent investigation into Alex Pretti’s killing in Minnesota?” said U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff. 

In recent weeks, masked Federal agents have killed and assaulted American citizens, detained American citizens without cause, raided Americans’ homes without a judge’s warrant, and set up police checkpoints to demand Americans’ identification papers.

This issue is dividing the Republican coalition and putting Republicans on the backfoot with voters heading into November’s elections. 

Since yesterday, even more Republican elected officials and candidates have come out to break with the Trump Administration over its egregious violations of American civil liberties, but Georgia U.S. Senate candidates Derek Dooley, Buddy Carter, and Mike Collins have refused to put Americans’ civil liberties over loyalty to Trump:

Homeland Security Committee Chairman Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY): “Today, I call on the heads of ICE, CBP, and USCIS to testify before the Homeland Security Committee,” and later saying, “Local police routinely, put officers involved in deadly shootings on administrative leave until an independent investigation is concluded. That should happen immediately. I can’t recall ever hearing a police chief immediately describing the victim as a “domestic terrorist” or a “would-be assassin.”

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS): “I am deeply troubled by the shootings in Minneapolis involving federal agents. Our Constitution provides citizens protection from the government. We have a right to free speech, to peaceably assemble and to bear arms. We also expect government to protect us from lawless behavior.”

Sen. John Curtis (R-UT): “We must have a transparent, independent investigation into the Minnesota shooting, and those responsible—no matter their title—must be held accountable. Officials who rush to judgment before all the facts are known undermine public trust and the law-enforcement mission.” He continued, “I disagree with Secretary Noem’s premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence.”

Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) suggested that enforcing immigration laws must not compromise “our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble,” and said he expects “a prioritized, transparent investigation into this incident.”

Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the Trump Administration on the Mark Davis Show and said, “They, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that respect is going to be reinstilled.”

Former Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, Chris Madel, ended his GOP bid for governor, citing the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state: “I cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”

Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO): “Saturday’s fatal shooting in Minneapolis involving federal law enforcement is a serious incident that warrants a full, independent, and transparent investigation before conclusions are drawn. Where facts and broader context are still developing, responsible public voices should allow the investigative process to do its work. Accountability, the rule of law, and public trust depend on getting the facts right. At moments like this, restraint and sober judgment matter. People have a constitutional right to peacefully assemble and express their views, and to exercise their individual Second Amendment rights. Federal, state, and local law enforcement share a responsibility to work cooperatively to enforce the law, maintain public safety, and protect constitutional rights. Those principles should guide our response as the facts are established.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY): “Collaboration should start now. The F.B.I. and state and local departments should together investigate the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.”

House Appropriations Chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) told POLITICO that he is calling for an investigation into the fatal shooting in Minnesota, which he said he is “not going to reflexively defend.”

New reporting underscores even further that the Republican coalition is fracturing over the unconstitutional infringement of civil liberties, putting not only Trump but Georgia Republican U.S. Senate Candidates Derek Dooley, Buddy Carter, and Mike Collins in a “dicey situation”.

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: “This is backfiring against Republicans… Americans don’t want law enforcement shooting people in the street or arresting five-year-old boys. The President who said you have to have a heart in enforcement ought to show some.”

POLITICO: Gun rights groups blast Trump over Minnesota response

AJC’s Politically Georgia Podcast: “It does feel like a — I don’t know if it’s a breaking point, it certainly feels like an inflection point, and it feels like a time of real peril for a lot of things, for the Trump presidency, for the Republican Party….And so this has, I think, raised all kinds of red flags, not just with Democrats, not just with progressives, not just people in Minnesota, but Republicans, Second Amendment activists, lots and lots of people that the Trump administration typically can bring along with them. That’s not happening right now.” 

Punchbowl News: Trump in a corner over Minneapolis 

“Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), the only Democrat up for reelection in a Trump-won state, is pressing Republicans to forcefully condemn Pretti’s death. Ossoff called out the three contenders in the GOP Senate primary and asked if any would “join other GOP leaders who are calling for a full, transparent, independent investigation” into the shooting… The GOP: One of Ossoff’s potential opponents — Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) — is asking for more ICE agents to be sent to Georgia.”

Podcast host Joe Rogan recently criticized the Trump Administration for “Snatching people up,” and asked “Are we really going to be the Gestapo? Where’s your papers?”

The NRA and multiple other gun groups and owners, including Gun Owners of America, have criticized the Trump administration’s apparent disregard for Second Amendment rights in their response to the Minneapolis killing of VA nurse Alex Pretti. 

Trump’s approval rating on his handling of immigration continues to plummet with Americans across the country – making Republicans “uneasy” heading into November’s midterm elections.

Since March of last year, polling shows that Trump’s approval rating on his handling of immigration has continued to decline and that the majority of Americans say ICE enforcement is “making cities less safe.” 

Following a DHS killing earlier this month, CNN found that the majority of Americans believe that “ICE agent’s use of force was ‘inappropriate’” and that several polls show “Americans are overwhelmingly paying close attention.”

POLITICO: “In a sign of growing discomfort among the president’s base, more than 1 in 3 Trump voters say that while they support the goals of his mass deportation campaign, they disapprove of the way he is implementing it.”

Aaron Blake, CNN: “Another killing by a federal officer deepens Trump’s self-inflicted political nightmare”

Local law enforcement in Minnesota has also been speaking out against the Trump administration’s actions: 

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara: “People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn’t shoot anyone … this is not sustainable.”

Recent reporting highlighted that local law enforcement officers of the Twin Cities have been raising “concerns over recent interactions between their officers and federal immigration agents.”

Wall Street Journal: Police Who Once Backed ICE’s Mission Are Losing Faith in Its Tactics

Bottom line: Ossoff’s challenge to his opponents is a warning sign to the Republican Senate candidates to stand with the Constitution and civil liberties or face the repercussions at the ballot box in November.