WATCH: Schatz condemns Minneapolis shooting — ‘We will not tolerate tyranny’

U.S. Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawai‘i Democrat, spoke out Wednesday (Jan. 28) on the Senate floor about the killing of Alex Pretti by federal officers in Minneapolis, Minn., this past weekend.

Schatz highlighted the widespread condemnation of the incident from across the political spectrum and throughout the nation, noting that a collective responsibility to protect freedom and liberty has been a core American ideal since the nation’s founding.

“Tyranny is tyranny, and the people of this country — whatever our other differences — don’t want anything to do with it,” said Schatz in his comments. “There is a reason that a broad coalition of unlikely partners quickly converged in the wake of the tragedy — and it wasn’t some organizing strategy.”

The lawmaker said it was organic, throughout the country and certainly throughout the state of Minnesota.

“It was liberals. It was conservatives. It was gun owners. It was clergy members. It was business executives. It was libertarians. It was Trump voters,” he said. “Why the new unity? Because people from different places and persuasions, faiths and financial situations, understand that at least on the very narrow question of freedom and liberty, our fates and our futures are intertwined.”

Schatz said no one is free until everyone is free.

“Look, I get that we’re all divided and distracted and exhausted and that it’s not going to resolve overnight,” Schatz said. “But in the wake of the tragedies in Minneapolis, a bright red line has emerged. We can argue about everything else, but we will not tolerate tyranny.