TGIF: Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for March 27, 2026

When I asked Alexa if The Singularity is approaching, it said the timeline of hegemony for our robot overlords is like the bus – it’s coming, but no one knows exactly when. You can follow me through the week on Bluesky, threads and X. Here we go.

*** Want to get my column in your inbox every Friday? Sign up right here ***

Providence had four homicides last year – a remarkable decline from the recent high of 30 in 2000. But two of those 2025 deaths came during the Brown University shooting in December – an event that shook the sense of normalcy around College Hill and beyond. There was more carnage and heartbreak during the February shooting at the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket in February. During an interview this week on One on One, Col. Oscar Perez, chief of Providence police, said declines in major categories of crime show how the department has prioritized strategies to reduce violence. At the same time, he said it’s very difficult to prevent someone intent on committing mayhem from causing harm. “There’s no way that any police department in the world or in the nation can stop violence,” Perez said. “I think we need to work as a team, and that involves the community being alert. Something that looks suspicious to you, you need to notify us, keep an eye on something that didn’t look right.” Community assistance provided a crucial break in the Brown University shooting investigation, and ultimately, Perez said, “It was the community’s assistance, as well as our police department and our detectives, and obviously the FBI and everyone else that was on board.”

The Brown University shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, targeted a former classmate when he shot and killed MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at his home near Boston. Valente exhibited a hateful animus against Brown, but the focus of his attack there seemed more random. Chief Perez told me that neither his department nor the FBI has yet been able to identify a motive for the assault. Perez said the FBI is leading that probe since Valente left Providence for another jurisdiction. “Collaboration is important,” the colonel said. “It’s not about an ego. It’s about being able to find the answers and they have the tools and resources to do that to the point they even flew out to Portugal. They have agents all over the world. And so we’re just trying to find out if there was a reason for the motive, but there really hasn’t been anything specific.”

It’s a measure of change in the Providence Police Department that about a quarter of officers now speak a second language. At the same time, as noted by Perez — the first person of color selected to lead the PPD – empathy and an appreciation for other cultures are key ingredients for doing the job well: “You can be Caucasian, you can be Hispanic, you can be Black, Asian, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “When you’re culturally competent and you grew up in a neighborhood understanding social challenges, it makes you a way better officer. I grew up with Caucasian officers and they salsa better than I do.”

Could a Warwick independent with an outsider messager vault into the governor’s office, 16 years after Lincoln Chafee won a squeaker to claim Rhode Island’s top job? Warwick Mayor Frank Picozzi isn’t ruling out such a campaign, although he said he hasn’t given it much thought while focusing on the city’s budget process. Speculation about a Picozzi for governor increased this week since a former top aide, Aaron Mackisey, met with the mayor and his staff this week during a trip from DC; Mackisey said it was merely a social call. Picozzi tells me he’s been approached by “a lot of people” about running for governor and he thinks an independent could use matching funds to compete effectively against flusher candidates such as Gov. Dan McKee and top Democratic rival Helena Foulkes. Picozzi won his second term in 2024 and he could seek re-election in 2028. For now, the mayor said he’s not committed to thinking through a campaign for governor. “I’d have to assess it,” he said. “I might give it some thought, but I’m not sure at this point.”

The latest “No Kings” protests are happening around the country Saturday, March 28, with one planned for 1-4 pm outside the Statehouse in Providence. It’s billed as possibly the largest in state history. Other events are planned in nearby communities, including Little Compton, Tiverton, Fall River, Dartmouth, Westport and New Rivers. Here’s what the scene was like when I covered a “No Kings” protest in Providence last June.

According to Providence Reddit, a big mural is going up downtown of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was murdered in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August 2025. The murals have appeared in a number of U.S. cities after Silicon Valley CEO Eoghan McCabe announced via X a half-million dollars in $10,000 grants to support the work. According to The Guardian, Elon Musk contributed $1 million to the project – variously described as a fitting tribute and MAGA-fueled propaganda.

Rising gas prices are one tangible impact from the U.S. war with Iran. The equation could change if American forces make a ground incursion there. The elimination of the draft has largely severed the sense of skin in the game that many people in this country have for military conflicts abroad. And, as NPR’s Planet Money reports, “America’s wars are financed almost entirely through debt, without higher taxes or budget cuts,” further distancing taxpayers from the expense, at least in the short term, even if these conflicts ultimately cost trillions, with other long-lasting consequences.

Composite image by Heide Borgonovo

Stephen “Doc” Skoly this week announced his run in Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, joining Vic Mellor in offering a GOP primary choice for voters. GOP congressional primaries aren’t unheard of hereabouts. This is the fourth since 2020, according to RI GOP National Committeeman Steve Frias, who is also a local historian. There’s something different about this year’s matchup, though. As Frias writes via email, “When a party is the super minority, it needs to nominate candidates who are acceptable to its base but electable in the general election. Neither of these two candidates seem to have much appeal beyond the party’s base. One candidate sees January 6th as a high point of his life and the other candidate is best known for challenging a vaccine mandate. When a party nominates candidates that have little or no appeal beyond their party’s base, it suggests that the party knows it can’t win that office or that the party is more interested in pleasing its base than appealing to swing voters to win in November. Pleasing the base is a lot easier than appealing to swing voters especially in this polarized political climate.”

Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor – who was not yet confirmed for his second stint in that role – was in the state Senate for a recent event dedicating the chamber to the late President Dominick Rugerrio. That was the same day that Gov. McKee nominated former Senate President Joseph Montalbano as presiding justice of Superior Court. A posting then went up for the Senate Commerce Committee to consider confirming Pryor, suggesting linkage. Senate spokesman Greg Pare denied that was the case. Regardless, Pryor has still not been confirmed by the full Senate (although a vote is scheduled for Monday) amid questions about whether he can act without legislative approval. Separately, Attorney General Peter Neronha says RI’s judicial selection process “has more angling than during striped bass season,” former RWU Law Dean Michael Yelnosky is concerned about the prospect of House Speaker Joe Shekarchi seeking a Supreme Court position, and all eyes remain on McKee and the Judicial Nominating Commission.

Democrat Samantha Wilcox, president of the Richmond Town Council, is taking on state Sen. Elaine Morgan (R-Hopkinton), who has fended off a series of challengers since first winning election in 2014 …. AG Peter Neronha endorsed Xay Khamsvoravong’s LG run ….. Climate Action Rhode Island backed Sue AnderBois for LG …. LG Sabina Matos testified this week on her support for creating a local center for employee ownership and her opposition to the restrictive covenants used by some large retailers to block competition …. Massachusetts CPAs report a net loss of high-income taxpayers from the Bay State …. Gov. McKee’s pick of Donna Sams to serve on the Public Utilities Commission is raising questions about whether she has the relevant background …. The first gov candidate up on the air is …. Aaron Guckian?

Via statement, U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said the following after the Senate this week approved an agreement that would end the month and a half shutdown of U.S. Homeland Security: “Democrats will continue pushing for commonsense reforms to rein in out-of-control ICE and Border Patrol employees and hold them accountable for unjustified and unconstitutional actions.” Reed rapped the Trump administration for what he called failing to account for the war in Iran.

He also noted the contradiction of President Trump voting by mail, though he could have voted in person, while assailing the integrity of mail ballots. “I have no problem with President Trump voting by mail. But I do have a problem with him spewing misinformation, undermining voter confidence, and trying to take away other Americans’ access to secure, accessible voting methods when he himself uses the exact same method. His philosophy is ‘mail-in-voting for me, not for thee.’ And he is falsely trying to claim mail-in ballots lead to electoral fraud.” …. U.S. Sen Sheldon Whitehouse helped stage a forum on the connection between climate change and affordability …. In the least surprising semi-regular political ritual imaginable, the RI AFL-CIO has endorsed top Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo …. U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner will keynote the North Kingstown Chamber’s Annual Business Awards on Thursday, April 2.

My colleague David Wright is a great storyteller, so do yourself a favor and listen to the audio version, or watch the video, of his story about how soppressata – better known as “soupy” – became a cultural staple in Westerly. (SoupyFest is fast approaching.) David is a relative newcomer to Rhode Island, but what he lacks in local knowledge he more than compensates with his fresh eyes for the things that set the Ocean State apart and make it distinctive.

Human rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson is working to counter the removal of plaques, monuments and exhibitions documenting slavery and other forms of racial injustice in the U.S. “The first thing is that for truth and justice, truth and reconciliation, truth and restoration, truth and repair, I think the first we have to acknowledge is that those things are sequential,” Stevenson tells Terry Gross. “You can’t get the beautiful ‘R’ words, like redemption and reconciliation and restoration and repair, unless you first tell the truth.” Stevenson also mentions Bernard LaFayette, a leader in the civil right movement, who recently died at age 85, and who was inaugural director of URI’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies.

With the MLB season under way, The Athletic ranks the Sox a respectable eighth in its initial power rankings, with a 60% shot of making the postseason. Here’s former ProJo sportswriter Tim Britton’s view through a scanner darkly: “There’s no doubting that the Red Sox have a lot of good players; it’s worth wondering whether they can all be on the field at the same time. Boston is flush with outfielders and starting pitchers; the latter is where it leaned in this winter in acquiring Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo to go along with one of the deeper groups of near-ready prospects in the sport. The infield, though, sure misses that one extra bat, and the bottom half of the lineup will pivot on whether strong offensive stretches by the likes of Caleb Durbin, Ceddanne Rafaela and Carlos Narváez can be replicated in 2026.” Play ball!