EDITORIAL: Police have a duty to protect the public and property

Police departments across the country have, for the most part, shown restraint when dealing with the violence that has followed the senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police. But as demonstrations devolve into riots and lead to additional deaths and continued destruction of property, the authorities have little choice but to more aggressively assert their presence.

On Monday night, the mayhem that has played such a central role in many of the protests tearing apart urban centers from Los Angeles to New York City descended upon Las Vegas. A Metropolitan Police Department officer was shot while attempting to take demonstrators into custody in front of Circus Circus on the Strip. Sheriff Joe Lombardo said the officers “were taking rocks and bottles from the crowd” when the incident took place. A bullet followed.

Shay Mikalonis, 29, a four-year veteran of Metro, is now on life support at University Medical Center. Officers eventually arrested 20-year-old Edgar Samaniego as a suspect in the shooting.

We’ll skip the lecture about moral relativism, except to state the obvious: The death of Mr. Floyd and the attempted assassination of officer Mikalonis both deserve vigorous condemnation, regardless of which “side” one takes in this evolving tragedy. To use one to justify the other is an exercise in mindless rationalization and a lazy defense of chaos. If the legitimate protesters don’t get a handle on the dangerous opportunists in their midst who seek to use these demonstrations as an excuse for anarchy, their important message will be undecipherable amid the cacophony of turmoil.

Sheriff Lombardo, Gov. Steve Sisolak and local elected officials are understandably in a touchy place, fearful of trying to keep the peace without escalating the violence. But once a number of marchers — whether a small minority or not — have opted repeatedly to attack officers with dangerous projectiles and even weapons, law enforcement authorities have an obligation to protect the public at large from those reveling in havoc and destruction.

If that means activating the National Guard, as the governor did Thursday afternoon, so be it.

Nor should this be a red or blue debate. “Use the police, protect property and people,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo after looting and violence against police ripped through New York City on Monday night. “Look at the videos, it was a disgrace.”

Peaceful protesters seeking to express themselves have a constitutional right to do so, and law enforcement officers must be held accountable if they violate those rights. But marchers who threaten the innocent by engaging in violence or attacking police officers must be apprehended and brought to justice, just like those wearing badges who caused the death of Mr. Floyd.