Vice President Pence to visit Las Vegas on Saturday to help city heal

Vice President Mike Pence will continue his recent tour of cities reeling from unforeseen catastrophes when Air Force Two touches down in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Pence will join Mayor Carolyn Goodman and other elected officials for an event to help the community heal from Sunday night’s mass shooting.

The event will take place in Las Vegas City Hall Council chambers, 495 South Main Street, at 12:30 p.m. following a citywide Unity Prayer Walk. Walkers will set out from four locations, all seven miles from City Hall, singing and praying for healing and unity in Las Vegas, as well as praying for the victims of this shooting. The walkers will join together at City Hall for the ceremony in chambers.

Pence will speak during the gathering in chambers, after which a release of doves, one for each of the victims killed on Sunday, will take place on the City Hall plaza.

As the president’s post-disaster ambassador, Pence has been working overtime assessing the situation on the ground and reaching out to Americans who have had to endure unforeseen disasters.

Thursday the vice president and second lady Karen Pence flew to Orlando where he received a briefing on Hurricane Irma.

“The president often says when one part of America hurts, we all hurt; when one part of America struggles, we all struggle,” Pence told the Puerto Rican community after touring the Disaster Relief Center.

Friday the Pences flew to the Virgin Islands and San Juan, Puerto Rico, both of which were devastated by hurricanes last month. In San Juan a young man confronted Pence: “We need more people. We need more communications. I’m a little bit angry, Mr. vice president.”

Later Pence told reporters he understood the frustration.

“Our message here today is the same as President Trump’s message earlier this week,” Pence said. “We’re here for the long haul.”

Thursday Pence talked to Sirius radio talk show host Storme Warren about the shooting in Las Vegas. Warren was on stage when the shooting began Sunday night.

“Even though people were scared and running around and trying to figure things out, the first thought on everybody’s mind was like, what could we do to help?” Warren told Pence.

“I can’t, for the life of me, imagine what it was like to be there, Storme,” Pence said. “And God bless you and everyone who was present, the victims that are recovering from injuries and of course the families of those that we lost.”

Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.