A candlelight vigil for Alex Pretti outside Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington, DC, on Wednesday.Jose Luis Magana/AP

“Alex Pretti was one of us,” an NIH worker who asked not to be named told me over the phone.

That’s a phrase I’ve been hearing a lot since Saturday, when the 37 year-old Veterans Affairs nurse was assaulted and then fatally shot by federal agents in Minneapolis.

The circumstances of the killing—called an execution by many observers—has rattled government workers. They’re distraught for the same reason many Americans are. There were numerous witnesses, for one. Donald Trump and his minions Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem thoughtlessly disparaged the victim. Ample video evidence directly contradicted the government’s narrative. And it was the second killing in a month by federal agents in Minneapolis, adding to DHS’s recent death toll—including many more who have died in ICE custody.

But to many federal workers, Pretti also was a colleague. The civil service was generally fragmented prior to Trump’s reelection. But his administration’s ruthless assault on the rights and livelihoods of career government employees has strengthened ties among workers from completely unrelated agencies, who have banded together to organize protests and share resources.

“There’s been so much fear........

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