After the state-sanctioned executions comes the state-sanctioned propaganda.
A photograph of the pistol recovered by immigration agents after a shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday morning is shown on a screen behind US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem as she speaks during a news conference in the National Response Coordination Center at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters on January 24, 2026 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
Jordan Liz
Jan 26, 2026
Common Dreams
On January 24th, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old white US citizen, was murdered by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis. This comes less than three weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross murdered Renee Nicole Good.
Video footage shows Pretti, an ICU nurse, stepping in between a woman and a federal agent who was pepper-spraying her. That agent proceeds to pepper-spray Pretti who was filming the encounter with his phone in one hand and nothing in the other. Several agents approached and forced Pretti onto the ground. He was restrained.
Despite this, one agent unholstered his gun and fired one shot at close range. As that agent continued to fire, another grabbed his gun and fired additional shots. In total, at least 10 shots were fired within five seconds.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately began spreading their state-sanctioned propaganda. Via Twitter-X, DHS posted that federal agents were conducting a “targeted operation” when an armed individual approached. “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. […] Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.” Without offering a shred of evidence, DHS wildly speculates that “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Like Good, the Trump administration immediately labelled Pretti a “domestic terrorist.”
Both Good and Pretti were victims of state-sanctioned executions conducted by federal agents illegally occupying the state of Minnesota against the will of its people and its elected officials.
Regardless of your thoughts on ICE’s presence in Minnesota specifically or the Trump administration in general, this is beyond debate: there was absolutely no reason for federal agents to fire a single shot—let alone ten. Pretti was not a threat to anyone—let alone several heavily armed federal agents. They chose to abuse the power and “absolute immunity” that the Trump administration granted them to publicly execute a US citizen at their own discretion.
We vote for representatives, not kings.
The Trump administration, in their utter disregard for the safety and well-being of Americans, has unleashed an army of poorly trained, heavily armed, masked agents without any guardrails or accountability. Several news outlets have reported that the federal investigation into Renee Good’s murder is more focused on any possible ties between her wife, Becca Good, and activist groups rather than Ross’ conduct. Thus far, six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned over the Justice Department’s reluctance to investigate Ross.
An FBI agent who was working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) also resigned. Shortly after opening a civil rights investigation into Good’s death, she was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the ICE agent. The FBI also blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has already announced that DHS will be leading the investigation of the Border Patrol agent that murdered Pretti. To emphasize, the department that, before the investigation even began, fabricated a series of lies meant to publicly exonerate Border Patrol agents will be investigating their conduct.
Given this precedent, why exactly would federal agents show restraint? Why deescalate when excessive violence is unconditionally excused? Even if they murder someone, President Trump will only go as far as acknowledging “that mistakes sometimes happen” and “that 99% of our ICE officers are doing the right thing.” Following Pretti’s murder, Trump wasted no time defending Border Patrol. He claimed that federal agents “had to protect themselves” against “the gunman.”
While Trump highlights Pretti’s gun as some kind of excuse, whether he was armed changes nothing. This is America – a country with over 80 million gun owners whose right to bear arms is inscribed in the Second Amendment. A fact that President Trump and his allies are usually so eager to point out. Pretti had a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Not only was he completely within his rights to carry, no video shows him even holding it.
Even Noem refused to directly answer whether Pretti brandished his weapon. Instead, she insisted that “I don’t know of any peaceful protestor that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.” Yet, of course, she does. The J6 protestors were armed, attacked law enforcement and yet Noem supported Trump pardoning them. Kyle Rittenhouse traveled to another state, went to a peaceful protest armed, shot three people and received widespread praise from the Trump administration.
DHS is so blatantly lying that even staunch Trump supporters like Tim Pool are questioning the official state narrative.
The Trump administration’s careless indifference towards the truth means that, regardless of what they say, we must continue to record and share videos of federal agents. We simply cannot trust the words of an administration whose first impulse is to justify the death of US citizens.
But, there is a deeper worry. It may be tempting to see these lies as an attempt by the administration to justify the violence. An attempt to use the state’s massive propaganda machine—which includes media outlets like Fox News, the New York Post, Bari Weiss’s CBS and Elon Musk’s X—to convince the American public that federal agents are trying to faithfully execute their jobs.
By his own admission, Trump is only limited by his “own morality.” Even if his own supporters disagree with him, Trump remains steadfast–as he puts it, “MAGA is me.” Driven by narcissism, greed, and a litany of grievances, Trump shows little regard for the Constitution, Congress, court rulings, and the “international rules-based order.”
I would add to this list: the people. To think that Trump cares about convincing the public is to believe that Trump still cares about their opinion. Trump does not. He has ‘joked’ about cancelling the midterm elections. In August 2025, his administration quietly removed an online tool from Regulations.gov that allowed advocacy groups to collect and submit public comments to federal agencies. Doing so makes it much harder for individuals to weigh in on agency regulatory proposals. He also pursues a series of unpopular policies including seizing Greenland, occupying Venezuela and renaming the Kennedy Center.
Most Americans think ICE is making cities less safe, but Trump doesn’t care. Hours after Pretti’s murder, Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) making three demands:
1.Walz’s office must share state records on Medicaid, and Food and Nutrition Service programs with the federal government
2.Repeal sanctuary city policies, force all state correctional facilities to fully cooperate with ICE, honor immigration detainers, and permit ICE to interview detainees to determine immigration status
3.Grant the Department of Justice complete access to the state’s voter rolls to confirm that its registration policies comply with federal law
These demands are a direct assault on the sovereignty of Minnesota. A day after a major statewide economic blackout and protest, the Trump administration is ordering Walz to betray the will of his own constituents. And to be clear, these are demands. As Bondi emphasized on Fox News, Walz “better support President Trump. He better support the men and women in law enforcement because if he doesn’t, we are.”
For the Trump administration, Minnesota is not about immigration enforcement or fraud. It is a trial run for his administration’s fascist apparatus. He is testing whether there are any limits to his power beyond his own judgment. After all, thus far Congress and the Supreme Court have utterly failed to keep him in check—not that either has really tried.
Walz cannot capitulate to the Trump administration. But we also cannot depend on elected officials to solve this problem. Now is the time for collective action—not just in Minnesota but across the entire country. After all, there is one thing that Trump definitely cares about: the economy. A nationwide economic blackout and protest would hit him where it hurts.
No matter which state you live in, you are not safe from Trump. Do not be fooled by victim-blaming narratives that fault Good and Pretti for being ‘where they were not supposed to be.’ The notion that we, as Americans, cannot protest unlawful law enforcement is a repulsive austerity policy masquerading as genuine critique. It is to surrender ourselves unconditionally to the whims of the state.
We vote for representatives, not kings. If ever our elected officials fail to reflect our will, then they must be made to submit—not the other way around. Trump has forgotten how things work; we would all do well to remind him.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jordan Liz
Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration and the politics of belonging.
Full Bio >
On January 24th, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old white US citizen, was murdered by a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis. This comes less than three weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross murdered Renee Nicole Good.
Video footage shows Pretti, an ICU nurse, stepping in between a woman and a federal agent who was pepper-spraying her. That agent proceeds to pepper-spray Pretti who was filming the encounter with his phone in one hand and nothing in the other. Several agents approached and forced Pretti onto the ground. He was restrained.
Despite this, one agent unholstered his gun and fired one shot at close range. As that agent continued to fire, another grabbed his gun and fired additional shots. In total, at least 10 shots were fired within five seconds.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) immediately began spreading their state-sanctioned propaganda. Via Twitter-X, DHS posted that federal agents were conducting a “targeted operation” when an armed individual approached. “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect but the armed suspect violently resisted. […] Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.” Without offering a shred of evidence, DHS wildly speculates that “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” Like Good, the Trump administration immediately labelled Pretti a “domestic terrorist.”
Both Good and Pretti were victims of state-sanctioned executions conducted by federal agents illegally occupying the state of Minnesota against the will of its people and its elected officials.
Regardless of your thoughts on ICE’s presence in Minnesota specifically or the Trump administration in general, this is beyond debate: there was absolutely no reason for federal agents to fire a single shot—let alone ten. Pretti was not a threat to anyone—let alone several heavily armed federal agents. They chose to abuse the power and “absolute immunity” that the Trump administration granted them to publicly execute a US citizen at their own discretion.
We vote for representatives, not kings.
The Trump administration, in their utter disregard for the safety and well-being of Americans, has unleashed an army of poorly trained, heavily armed, masked agents without any guardrails or accountability. Several news outlets have reported that the federal investigation into Renee Good’s murder is more focused on any possible ties between her wife, Becca Good, and activist groups rather than Ross’ conduct. Thus far, six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned over the Justice Department’s reluctance to investigate Ross.
An FBI agent who was working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) also resigned. Shortly after opening a civil rights investigation into Good’s death, she was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the ICE agent. The FBI also blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has already announced that DHS will be leading the investigation of the Border Patrol agent that murdered Pretti. To emphasize, the department that, before the investigation even began, fabricated a series of lies meant to publicly exonerate Border Patrol agents will be investigating their conduct.
Given this precedent, why exactly would federal agents show restraint? Why deescalate when excessive violence is unconditionally excused? Even if they murder someone, President Trump will only go as far as acknowledging “that mistakes sometimes happen” and “that 99% of our ICE officers are doing the right thing.” Following Pretti’s murder, Trump wasted no time defending Border Patrol. He claimed that federal agents “had to protect themselves” against “the gunman.”
While Trump highlights Pretti’s gun as some kind of excuse, whether he was armed changes nothing. This is America – a country with over 80 million gun owners whose right to bear arms is inscribed in the Second Amendment. A fact that President Trump and his allies are usually so eager to point out. Pretti had a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Not only was he completely within his rights to carry, no video shows him even holding it.
Even Noem refused to directly answer whether Pretti brandished his weapon. Instead, she insisted that “I don’t know of any peaceful protestor that shows up with a gun and ammunition rather than a sign.” Yet, of course, she does. The J6 protestors were armed, attacked law enforcement and yet Noem supported Trump pardoning them. Kyle Rittenhouse traveled to another state, went to a peaceful protest armed, shot three people and received widespread praise from the Trump administration.
DHS is so blatantly lying that even staunch Trump supporters like Tim Pool are questioning the official state narrative.
The Trump administration’s careless indifference towards the truth means that, regardless of what they say, we must continue to record and share videos of federal agents. We simply cannot trust the words of an administration whose first impulse is to justify the death of US citizens.
But, there is a deeper worry. It may be tempting to see these lies as an attempt by the administration to justify the violence. An attempt to use the state’s massive propaganda machine—which includes media outlets like Fox News, the New York Post, Bari Weiss’s CBS and Elon Musk’s X—to convince the American public that federal agents are trying to faithfully execute their jobs.
By his own admission, Trump is only limited by his “own morality.” Even if his own supporters disagree with him, Trump remains steadfast–as he puts it, “MAGA is me.” Driven by narcissism, greed, and a litany of grievances, Trump shows little regard for the Constitution, Congress, court rulings, and the “international rules-based order.”
I would add to this list: the people. To think that Trump cares about convincing the public is to believe that Trump still cares about their opinion. Trump does not. He has ‘joked’ about cancelling the midterm elections. In August 2025, his administration quietly removed an online tool from Regulations.gov that allowed advocacy groups to collect and submit public comments to federal agencies. Doing so makes it much harder for individuals to weigh in on agency regulatory proposals. He also pursues a series of unpopular policies including seizing Greenland, occupying Venezuela and renaming the Kennedy Center.
Most Americans think ICE is making cities less safe, but Trump doesn’t care. Hours after Pretti’s murder, Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent a letter to Governor Tim Walz (D-MN) making three demands:
1.Walz’s office must share state records on Medicaid, and Food and Nutrition Service programs with the federal government
2.Repeal sanctuary city policies, force all state correctional facilities to fully cooperate with ICE, honor immigration detainers, and permit ICE to interview detainees to determine immigration status
3.Grant the Department of Justice complete access to the state’s voter rolls to confirm that its registration policies comply with federal law
These demands are a direct assault on the sovereignty of Minnesota. A day after a major statewide economic blackout and protest, the Trump administration is ordering Walz to betray the will of his own constituents. And to be clear, these are demands. As Bondi emphasized on Fox News, Walz “better support President Trump. He better support the men and women in law enforcement because if he doesn’t, we are.”
For the Trump administration, Minnesota is not about immigration enforcement or fraud. It is a trial run for his administration’s fascist apparatus. He is testing whether there are any limits to his power beyond his own judgment. After all, thus far Congress and the Supreme Court have utterly failed to keep him in check—not that either has really tried.
Walz cannot capitulate to the Trump administration. But we also cannot depend on elected officials to solve this problem. Now is the time for collective action—not just in Minnesota but across the entire country. After all, there is one thing that Trump definitely cares about: the economy. A nationwide economic blackout and protest would hit him where it hurts.
No matter which state you live in, you are not safe from Trump. Do not be fooled by victim-blaming narratives that fault Good and Pretti for being ‘where they were not supposed to be.’ The notion that we, as Americans, cannot protest unlawful law enforcement is a repulsive austerity policy masquerading as genuine critique. It is to surrender ourselves unconditionally to the whims of the state.
We vote for representatives, not kings. If ever our elected officials fail to reflect our will, then they must be made to submit—not the other way around. Trump has forgotten how things work; we would all do well to remind him.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jordan Liz
Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration and the politics of belonging.
Full Bio >
Minnesota AG Keith Ellison Calls Trump Officials’ Response to Alex Pretti Killing ‘Flat-Out Insane’
“Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in broad daylight in front of all of our eyes,” said Ellison. “Both the rule of law and the sense of justice we all carry within us demand a full, fair, and transparent investigation into his death.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, announce a lawsuit against the Trump administration at Minneapolis City Hall on January 12, 2026.
(Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jan 26, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday condemned the Trump administration’s response to federal agents’ killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend as “flat-out insane,” noting that video footage of the shooting discredits the narrative rushed out by top officials.
“This is their employee who they trained—apparently, allegedly,” Ellison, a Democrat, told the Washington Post in an interview. “So for them to jump out there and say, ‘He’s done nothing wrong, the victim is a bad person,’ is flat-out insane and is a complete break with what we consider to be reasonable law enforcement behavior. It fails every test of professionalism.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed following the shooting that Pretti “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,” aiming to “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem declared that “this is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.”
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, described Pretti as a “would-be assassin.”
Video footage of the killing quickly exposed the Trump administration’s narrative as a demonstrative lie.
“I think that reasonable people watching the video could conclude that [Pretti] had a gun and a holster, that it was taken off of him in plain view on the video, and that after that, he was shot,” Ellison told the Post. “I think that a person who saw those things would not be hallucinating.”
Ellison is set to appear before a federal judge on Monday as part of Minnesota’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities and deadly abuses in the state.
“I share the intense grief and anger of so many that another Minnesotan—Alex Pretti, 37 years old, an ICU nurse who served veterans—was fatally shot during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge,” Ellison said in a statement. “On Monday, my office and I will be in court arguing to end this illegal and unconstitutional occupation of our cities and the terror and violence it’s inflicting. This must stop. Now.”
“The federal government appears to have taken measures that directly led to the destruction of evidence.”
In a filing submitted hours after Pretti’s killing, Ellison and other Minnesota officials asked a federal court to prevent DHS and the Trump Justice Department from concealing or destroying evidence related to the shooting.
“According to reports, federal personnel may have seized cell phones, taken other evidence from the scene, and detained witnesses,” the filing states. “It is unclear whether federal personnel otherwise processed the scene—let alone how carefully. Then just a few hours after the shooting, federal personnel left, allowing the perimeter to collapse and potentially spoiling evidence.”
“From a law enforcement perspective, this is astonishing,” the filing continues. “The federal government’s actions are a sharp departure from normal best practices and procedure, in which every effort is taken to preserve the scene and the evidence it contains... [T]he federal government appears to have taken measures that directly led to the destruction of evidence.”
The US District Court for the District of Minnesota granted the request for a temporary restraining order, ruling that the Trump administration is “enjoined from destroying or altering evidence related to the fatal shooting involving federal officers that took place in or around 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026, including but not limited to evidence that Defendants and those working on their behalf removed from the scene and/or evidence that Defendants have taken into their exclusive custody.”
Ellison applauded the court’s decision, saying in a statement that the ruling protects the integrity of Minnesota’s investigation into Pretti’s killing.
“Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in broad daylight in front of all of our eyes,” said Ellison. “Both the rule of law and the sense of justice we all carry within us demand a full, fair, and transparent investigation into his death. We will not settle for less.”
“Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in broad daylight in front of all of our eyes,” said Ellison. “Both the rule of law and the sense of justice we all carry within us demand a full, fair, and transparent investigation into his death.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, announce a lawsuit against the Trump administration at Minneapolis City Hall on January 12, 2026.
(Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jan 26, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Sunday condemned the Trump administration’s response to federal agents’ killing of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend as “flat-out insane,” noting that video footage of the shooting discredits the narrative rushed out by top officials.
“This is their employee who they trained—apparently, allegedly,” Ellison, a Democrat, told the Washington Post in an interview. “So for them to jump out there and say, ‘He’s done nothing wrong, the victim is a bad person,’ is flat-out insane and is a complete break with what we consider to be reasonable law enforcement behavior. It fails every test of professionalism.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed following the shooting that Pretti “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun,” aiming to “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem declared that “this is a violent riot when you have someone showing up with weapons and are using them to assault law enforcement officers.”
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, described Pretti as a “would-be assassin.”
Video footage of the killing quickly exposed the Trump administration’s narrative as a demonstrative lie.
“I think that reasonable people watching the video could conclude that [Pretti] had a gun and a holster, that it was taken off of him in plain view on the video, and that after that, he was shot,” Ellison told the Post. “I think that a person who saw those things would not be hallucinating.”
Ellison is set to appear before a federal judge on Monday as part of Minnesota’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities and deadly abuses in the state.
“I share the intense grief and anger of so many that another Minnesotan—Alex Pretti, 37 years old, an ICU nurse who served veterans—was fatally shot during the Trump administration’s Operation Metro Surge,” Ellison said in a statement. “On Monday, my office and I will be in court arguing to end this illegal and unconstitutional occupation of our cities and the terror and violence it’s inflicting. This must stop. Now.”
“The federal government appears to have taken measures that directly led to the destruction of evidence.”
In a filing submitted hours after Pretti’s killing, Ellison and other Minnesota officials asked a federal court to prevent DHS and the Trump Justice Department from concealing or destroying evidence related to the shooting.
“According to reports, federal personnel may have seized cell phones, taken other evidence from the scene, and detained witnesses,” the filing states. “It is unclear whether federal personnel otherwise processed the scene—let alone how carefully. Then just a few hours after the shooting, federal personnel left, allowing the perimeter to collapse and potentially spoiling evidence.”
“From a law enforcement perspective, this is astonishing,” the filing continues. “The federal government’s actions are a sharp departure from normal best practices and procedure, in which every effort is taken to preserve the scene and the evidence it contains... [T]he federal government appears to have taken measures that directly led to the destruction of evidence.”
The US District Court for the District of Minnesota granted the request for a temporary restraining order, ruling that the Trump administration is “enjoined from destroying or altering evidence related to the fatal shooting involving federal officers that took place in or around 26th Street and Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis on January 24, 2026, including but not limited to evidence that Defendants and those working on their behalf removed from the scene and/or evidence that Defendants have taken into their exclusive custody.”
Ellison applauded the court’s decision, saying in a statement that the ruling protects the integrity of Minnesota’s investigation into Pretti’s killing.
“Alex Pretti was killed by DHS agents in broad daylight in front of all of our eyes,” said Ellison. “Both the rule of law and the sense of justice we all carry within us demand a full, fair, and transparent investigation into his death. We will not settle for less.”
Maximum Damage and Massacre: ICE Kills, ICE Lies
Alex Pretti films a thug shortly before his execution
Photo from BlueSky
Abby Zimet
Jan 26, 2026
Further
Alex Pretti films a thug shortly before his execution
Photo from BlueSky
Abby Zimet
Jan 26, 2026
Further
COMMON DREAMS
What to say. Alex Pretti, 37, a kind, principled, hard-working ICU nurse who cared for real soldiers in dire need was executed in the street at close range by a vicious gang of government sociopaths cosplaying as soldiers. After state terror killed him, state terror smeared him, because the man who dedicated his life to helping others was murdered by a man who has dedicated his life to hurting others. Pretti died trying to protect two women.Pretti, 37, was a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System; he had also taken part in research projects. His only previous interaction with law enforcement was for traffic tickets. Colleagues describe him as someone who "cared about people deeply" and "always rose to the level above and beyond what we expected of him." "He wanted to help people," said Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, chief of infectious diseases at the VA hospital. "He was an outstanding nurse who'd go out of his way to help." Pretti was also an "infectious spirit, quick with a joke"; the two men often talked about mountain biking, which they both loved. "You could not think of a kinder, gentler, sweeter person," said Dr. Aasma Shaukat. ”It really, truly gave him joy to interact with patients. And he always spoke about doing the right thing. He was a very principled person."
Videos from Saturday morning’s protest in Minneapolis show Pretti, dressed in brown, directing traffic and filming federal agents; forensic video analysis clearly shows his right hand holding up his phone, and his left hand empty. When agents start pushing protesters and observers back, Pretti retreats with them but keeps filming. As one thug violently shoves a woman to the ground, Pretti moves to help her, in response, the thug pepper sprays both Pretti and the woman in the face. As Pretti struggles to continue filming and protecting the woman, a swarm of six or seven nearby agents in full tactical gear rush in to pull Pretti away from her; they slam him to the ground, pin his arms down, and begin beating, punching, kicking him; one appears to pistol-whip Pretti about the head as other protesters yell for them to stop.
An agent suddenly shouts Pretti has a gun; he was reportedly carrying a legally registered handgun, in what is an open-carry state, as part of a community-led first-responder network. One goon steps in, pulls it out of Pretti’s waistband and walks away from the melee; seconds later, as Pretti strains to get up on one knee, another thug pulls out his gun and shoots him point-blank in the back. As Pretti collapses, at least one other agent begins shooting too; both continue firing 8 or 10 times as Pretti lies motionless on the ground. The closest sick fuck to Pretti claps as the shots ring out, and turns triumphantly away. Around them, people are screaming, crying and filming. “What the fuck did you just do?! What the fuck did you just do?! shrieks a woman, then ”Oh my God, oh my God.“ She starts sobbing, but keeps recording. ”You fucking people, you’re fucking killing us,“ she wails. ”Why would you do that?!“
See on Instagram
Even more than the murder of Renee Good, Pretti’s execution was brutally documented by eyewitnesses. When the firing begins, there’s video from a suddenly shocked guy inside a donut place across the street: “What?! Are you fucking kidding me?” There are painstakingly detailed forensic analyses- here and here - that clearly show Pretti holding his phone (not gun), helping the observer, pinned to the ground when he was shot. There’s video from the weeping, resolute woman recording behind him, and two sworn affidavits - for an ACLU lawsuit - based on testimony from her and a physician who watched from his apartment, went to the scene and insisted on checking for a pulse when agents (again) failed to do so: “I asked if (Pretti) had a pulse and they said they didn’t know”; they were focused on counting how many times he’d been hit.
Virtually all that first-hand evidence - video, testimony, verbal accounts - contradicts every claim the regime - lying goons, lying DHS, lying so-called president - has subsequently made. “This is a documented execution, down to evidence staging,” said one critic after the White House released a curated photo of a handgun Trump called “the gunman’s gun.” The bullshit started within minutes when mini-Nazi Greg Bovino announced that as brave thugs were conducting a “targeted operation” against a Very Scary “illegal alien,” “an individual approached (them) with a 9 mm handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the suspect but he violently resisted and an officer, fearing for his life, fired defensive shots...This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do MAXIMUM DAMAGE and MASSACRE law enforcement.” Also, then, “rioters.”
Their scripted claptrap kept coming, a shameless, venomous flood of lies. Fucking ICE Barbie echoed fucking Bovino, with flourishes: An “armed suspect,” now “brandishing” his weapon, approached agents “to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement...I state the facts as they unfolded on the street.” Stephen Goebbels called Pretti “a would-be assassin” who tried to murder feds and blasted Democrats who “side with the terrorists.” Dems replied, “You’re a f*cking liar with blood on your hands.” Drunktank Pete raved, “Thank God for the patriots of @ICEgov...You are SAVING the country.” The White House reminded zealots to call Pretti “a terrorist” in messaging, and Trump babbled Walz and Frey are covering up billions in “Theft and Fraud,” his racist pretext for starting the mayhem when, per Aaron Rupar, “None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.”
Nor is it normal, or even, often, legal. Again, corrupt feds blocked Minnesota investigators from access to the murder scene. They tried to block city cops too, but the police chief ordered them to stay and do their own investigation. Still, Bovino has said his thugs, murderers among them, are all back on the streets. (Kash Patel’s Keystone FBI are also on the case; he says they’ve arrested four Minnesotans for damaging an FBI vehicle and stealing “multiple items” earlier this month.) With the federal government declaring war on blue states - “Obey or else” - evil Pam Bond has saidsaid the quiet, election-stealing part out loud, effectively warning Minnesota officials the killings will continue until they fork over voter rolls. It’s not just Minnesota, activists insist; it’s all of us: “We’re performing CPR on what may already be a corpse called the Constitution.”
What to say. Alex Pretti, 37, a kind, principled, hard-working ICU nurse who cared for real soldiers in dire need was executed in the street at close range by a vicious gang of government sociopaths cosplaying as soldiers. After state terror killed him, state terror smeared him, because the man who dedicated his life to helping others was murdered by a man who has dedicated his life to hurting others. Pretti died trying to protect two women.Pretti, 37, was a registered nurse in the intensive care unit at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System; he had also taken part in research projects. His only previous interaction with law enforcement was for traffic tickets. Colleagues describe him as someone who "cared about people deeply" and "always rose to the level above and beyond what we expected of him." "He wanted to help people," said Dr. Dimitri Drekonja, chief of infectious diseases at the VA hospital. "He was an outstanding nurse who'd go out of his way to help." Pretti was also an "infectious spirit, quick with a joke"; the two men often talked about mountain biking, which they both loved. "You could not think of a kinder, gentler, sweeter person," said Dr. Aasma Shaukat. ”It really, truly gave him joy to interact with patients. And he always spoke about doing the right thing. He was a very principled person."
Videos from Saturday morning’s protest in Minneapolis show Pretti, dressed in brown, directing traffic and filming federal agents; forensic video analysis clearly shows his right hand holding up his phone, and his left hand empty. When agents start pushing protesters and observers back, Pretti retreats with them but keeps filming. As one thug violently shoves a woman to the ground, Pretti moves to help her, in response, the thug pepper sprays both Pretti and the woman in the face. As Pretti struggles to continue filming and protecting the woman, a swarm of six or seven nearby agents in full tactical gear rush in to pull Pretti away from her; they slam him to the ground, pin his arms down, and begin beating, punching, kicking him; one appears to pistol-whip Pretti about the head as other protesters yell for them to stop.
An agent suddenly shouts Pretti has a gun; he was reportedly carrying a legally registered handgun, in what is an open-carry state, as part of a community-led first-responder network. One goon steps in, pulls it out of Pretti’s waistband and walks away from the melee; seconds later, as Pretti strains to get up on one knee, another thug pulls out his gun and shoots him point-blank in the back. As Pretti collapses, at least one other agent begins shooting too; both continue firing 8 or 10 times as Pretti lies motionless on the ground. The closest sick fuck to Pretti claps as the shots ring out, and turns triumphantly away. Around them, people are screaming, crying and filming. “What the fuck did you just do?! What the fuck did you just do?! shrieks a woman, then ”Oh my God, oh my God.“ She starts sobbing, but keeps recording. ”You fucking people, you’re fucking killing us,“ she wails. ”Why would you do that?!“
See on Instagram
Even more than the murder of Renee Good, Pretti’s execution was brutally documented by eyewitnesses. When the firing begins, there’s video from a suddenly shocked guy inside a donut place across the street: “What?! Are you fucking kidding me?” There are painstakingly detailed forensic analyses- here and here - that clearly show Pretti holding his phone (not gun), helping the observer, pinned to the ground when he was shot. There’s video from the weeping, resolute woman recording behind him, and two sworn affidavits - for an ACLU lawsuit - based on testimony from her and a physician who watched from his apartment, went to the scene and insisted on checking for a pulse when agents (again) failed to do so: “I asked if (Pretti) had a pulse and they said they didn’t know”; they were focused on counting how many times he’d been hit.
Virtually all that first-hand evidence - video, testimony, verbal accounts - contradicts every claim the regime - lying goons, lying DHS, lying so-called president - has subsequently made. “This is a documented execution, down to evidence staging,” said one critic after the White House released a curated photo of a handgun Trump called “the gunman’s gun.” The bullshit started within minutes when mini-Nazi Greg Bovino announced that as brave thugs were conducting a “targeted operation” against a Very Scary “illegal alien,” “an individual approached (them) with a 9 mm handgun. The agents attempted to disarm the suspect but he violently resisted and an officer, fearing for his life, fired defensive shots...This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do MAXIMUM DAMAGE and MASSACRE law enforcement.” Also, then, “rioters.”
Their scripted claptrap kept coming, a shameless, venomous flood of lies. Fucking ICE Barbie echoed fucking Bovino, with flourishes: An “armed suspect,” now “brandishing” his weapon, approached agents “to inflict maximum damage and kill law enforcement...I state the facts as they unfolded on the street.” Stephen Goebbels called Pretti “a would-be assassin” who tried to murder feds and blasted Democrats who “side with the terrorists.” Dems replied, “You’re a f*cking liar with blood on your hands.” Drunktank Pete raved, “Thank God for the patriots of @ICEgov...You are SAVING the country.” The White House reminded zealots to call Pretti “a terrorist” in messaging, and Trump babbled Walz and Frey are covering up billions in “Theft and Fraud,” his racist pretext for starting the mayhem when, per Aaron Rupar, “None. Of. This. Was. Necessary.”
Nor is it normal, or even, often, legal. Again, corrupt feds blocked Minnesota investigators from access to the murder scene. They tried to block city cops too, but the police chief ordered them to stay and do their own investigation. Still, Bovino has said his thugs, murderers among them, are all back on the streets. (Kash Patel’s Keystone FBI are also on the case; he says they’ve arrested four Minnesotans for damaging an FBI vehicle and stealing “multiple items” earlier this month.) With the federal government declaring war on blue states - “Obey or else” - evil Pam Bond has saidsaid the quiet, election-stealing part out loud, effectively warning Minnesota officials the killings will continue until they fork over voter rolls. It’s not just Minnesota, activists insist; it’s all of us: “We’re performing CPR on what may already be a corpse called the Constitution.”
Fascism then and now
Photo from BlueSky
AOC calls Alex Pretti’s murder - again, point-blank, broad daylight- “a momentous, pivotal moment.” Maybe. Certainly, as Tim Walz argues, “They’re telling you not to trust your eyes and ears,” and as others argue, “Every person who voted for Trump has blood on their hands.” For now, Jonathan Last writes, our task is to at least bear witness. In the wake of the murder of Renee Good, “The murder of Alex Pretti was not a mistake, or a tragedy, or a misunderstanding. It was a choice. The president (and) his regime saw what its masked agents had done to (Good) and decided to do more of it...Killing Alex Pretti was (their) policy...which means the federal government is at war with the citizenry. Or at least the part (it) deems undesirable.” “If people in Minneapolis can be treated this way, Americans anywhere can be treated this way,” he concludes. “To avert your eyes from this reality is to insult the sacrifices Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti made for our country.”
Alex Pretti’s parents apparently found out about their son’s death, not from those responsible for it, but from an AP reporter who asked them about it. No federal official contacted them; in fact, none has yet picked up a phone to them. After struggling to get any information from DHS or other federal law enforcement, they called the county medical examiner’s office, who said, yes, they had a body matching the name and description of their son. In the wake of such horrors, Minnesota organizer Keith Edwards began an “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” fundraising campaign. The initial goal was $20,000. Reflecting Americans’ rage and grief, it has now raised over a million dollars, with donations ranging from $10,000 to, often, $5 or $10. Edwards has thanked donors with, “You are what America can look like at our best.”
Many of the moving comments come from “a whole family of us nurses who will carry him in our hearts.” They “mourn for the innumerable lives Alex WOULD have saved and the lives he WOULD have touched,” for “a life taken too soon” while “honoring the calling we all share.” From a fellow critical care nurse in the UK: “Sent with love, disbelief and abject horror. Rest in Power Alex.” Many thank his parents: “For raising someone brave who will be remembered as a beacon at the turn of the tide,” for “raising such a beautiful soul who stood up for what is right, and showed what love and dignity look like...We will not let your son be forgotten...Alex is any of us, and all of us.” “Be Good, be Pretti,” they wrote. “Murdered for being a good human being,” and, “Your actions were more than just an intervention - they were a profound hymn of human courage...Your light will guide the way for so many who follow.”
Protests continue in Minneapolis, people’s breath mixing with plumes of tear gas in the frigid air. Hours after Alex’ murder, a video showed Sarah Allen sobbing as her husband Matthew was brutally tackled and arrested by more roving goons; she told a pastor trying to console her the couple were just trying to get away from the tear gas. Mister Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” After Alex Pretti’s murder, many noted that the heartbreaking final act of his life was trying to help the woman assaulted by the masked sadists who then killed him. Reportedly, his last words were to task her, “Are you okay?” After his death, the son of a veteran who Pretti cared for in his final hours posted video of Pretti’s “final salute” honoring him. “Today, we remember that freedom is not free,” he says “We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it... We grant him our honor and our gratitude.”
AOC calls Alex Pretti’s murder - again, point-blank, broad daylight- “a momentous, pivotal moment.” Maybe. Certainly, as Tim Walz argues, “They’re telling you not to trust your eyes and ears,” and as others argue, “Every person who voted for Trump has blood on their hands.” For now, Jonathan Last writes, our task is to at least bear witness. In the wake of the murder of Renee Good, “The murder of Alex Pretti was not a mistake, or a tragedy, or a misunderstanding. It was a choice. The president (and) his regime saw what its masked agents had done to (Good) and decided to do more of it...Killing Alex Pretti was (their) policy...which means the federal government is at war with the citizenry. Or at least the part (it) deems undesirable.” “If people in Minneapolis can be treated this way, Americans anywhere can be treated this way,” he concludes. “To avert your eyes from this reality is to insult the sacrifices Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti made for our country.”
Alex Pretti’s parents apparently found out about their son’s death, not from those responsible for it, but from an AP reporter who asked them about it. No federal official contacted them; in fact, none has yet picked up a phone to them. After struggling to get any information from DHS or other federal law enforcement, they called the county medical examiner’s office, who said, yes, they had a body matching the name and description of their son. In the wake of such horrors, Minnesota organizer Keith Edwards began an “Alex Pretti is an American Hero” fundraising campaign. The initial goal was $20,000. Reflecting Americans’ rage and grief, it has now raised over a million dollars, with donations ranging from $10,000 to, often, $5 or $10. Edwards has thanked donors with, “You are what America can look like at our best.”
Many of the moving comments come from “a whole family of us nurses who will carry him in our hearts.” They “mourn for the innumerable lives Alex WOULD have saved and the lives he WOULD have touched,” for “a life taken too soon” while “honoring the calling we all share.” From a fellow critical care nurse in the UK: “Sent with love, disbelief and abject horror. Rest in Power Alex.” Many thank his parents: “For raising someone brave who will be remembered as a beacon at the turn of the tide,” for “raising such a beautiful soul who stood up for what is right, and showed what love and dignity look like...We will not let your son be forgotten...Alex is any of us, and all of us.” “Be Good, be Pretti,” they wrote. “Murdered for being a good human being,” and, “Your actions were more than just an intervention - they were a profound hymn of human courage...Your light will guide the way for so many who follow.”
Protests continue in Minneapolis, people’s breath mixing with plumes of tear gas in the frigid air. Hours after Alex’ murder, a video showed Sarah Allen sobbing as her husband Matthew was brutally tackled and arrested by more roving goons; she told a pastor trying to console her the couple were just trying to get away from the tear gas. Mister Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” After Alex Pretti’s murder, many noted that the heartbreaking final act of his life was trying to help the woman assaulted by the masked sadists who then killed him. Reportedly, his last words were to task her, “Are you okay?” After his death, the son of a veteran who Pretti cared for in his final hours posted video of Pretti’s “final salute” honoring him. “Today, we remember that freedom is not free,” he says “We have to work at it, nurture it, protect it, and even sacrifice for it... We grant him our honor and our gratitude.”
Alex Pretti and his dog Joule.
Photo from BlueSky
No comments:
Post a Comment