As I write this it’s been 24 hours since Alex Pretti was murdered by federal agents.
Meet the Press is on and Todd Blanche the Deputy Attorney General is blaming Pretti’s murder on the Minneapolis police, claiming that federal agents were somehow forced to shoot him because local law enforcement wasn’t on the scene. The host, Kristen Welker, points out that there are only 600 Minneapolis PD officers at the same time that there are over 3,000 federal immigration agents in the city.
“It strains credulity,” she says, to blame this on local police.
But Blanche’s attempt to justify Pretti’s murder may be the most benign of what’s been offered by the rest of the Trump administration so far.
Yesterday Gregory Bovino, who is leading the federal attack on Minnesota, said “this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”
Trump’s Number 2, Stephen Miller, described Pretti – a nurse who cared for veterans at the VA – as a “domestic terrorist” who came to assassinate law enforcement.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem echoed the accusation of domestic terrorism, saying that “this looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”
If you’ve seen the footage of Pretti’s murder, if you’ve read anything about the man that he was, you know that Bovino, Miller and Noem are lying.
But if you haven’t read this statement from Alex Pretti’s family, you might miss just how cruel and immoral these monsters really are:
We are heartbroken but also very angry.
Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.
Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.
I felt helpless after I watched the video. After I read the sworn testimony from bystanders that Pretti did not brandish a weapon. After I saw Miller, Noem and Bovino describe him as a terrorist who came to kill federal agents.
I thought of the scene at the end of Chinatown when, despite the innocent doing everything they can to escape the brutality of the powerful villain, evil triumphs, justice is denied and the protagonist is encouraged to just accept it.
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.”
I felt that way yesterday when I read that DHS wouldn’t allow local and state police access to the crime scene and have presumably swept up the evidence needed to prosecute the perpetrators. I guess we’re supposed to trust that DHS will investigate DHS.
There won’t be any justice for Pretti. No consequences for his killers. No way to stop this from happening again.
Forget it. It’s Trump’s America.
But something about reading that letter from Pretti’s family woke me from my helplessness. It moved me.
The letter demands of us: look at what Alex was doing in the final moments of his life. He was heroically documenting abuse and then doing everything he could to protect those being abused. And for that, he lost his life. Alex’s parents tell us that they’re not just heartbroken, but that they’re angry. They have made the choice to fight this evil, no matter that they must stand against the full power of the federal government, against the thousands of armed federal thugs in the streets, against the media outlets parroting the administration’s lies, against the perversion that is the federal Department of Justice – which should be investigating the agents who killed their son but is instead treating him as the perpetrator!! – against, in other words, all the odds.
But Alex’s courage, their courage in standing up for his memory against all of this power, has begun to change those odds. Last night I saw video of thousands in Minneapolis marching in the bitter cold in Alex’s memory and as a testament to our faith that we have the means to stop this. There are marches and protests in other cities across the country today. And they will continue tomorrow and throughout the week.
If Alex’s parents haven’t given up, if those people in Minneapolis haven’t given up, then how can anybody else?
Also last night, a federal judge — who was appointed by Trump — issued a restraining order prohibiting DHS from “destroying or altering evidence” of the crime scene. DOJ has yet to appeal, and we don’t know what will happen if they do, but this gives us some small hope that an official investigation will exonerate Pretti and provide the necessary evidence to indict his killers.
And then today, we learn that both Democratic and Republican senators are calling for an investigation into Pretti’s death, making it harder for the media to characterize the murder in partisan terms (e.g. “Democrats express outrage at killing…”) and removing the false equivalent lens through which the administration wants the country to see it.
It also looks like Senate Democrats have finally found the backbone to stand against ICE. Republicans have a 53-seat majority so they need seven Democrats to pass the DHS funding bill that will be up for a vote later this week. That it should take Pretti’s death on top of all the other abuses for them to do something is sad. But before yesterday it looked like they were going to cave once again. Now it seems like they’ll hold strong, at least for this week.
All of this — the Minneapolis protests, the injunction against DHS, the bipartisan calls for investigation, the Senate Democrats holding strong — it’s not enough to overcome the challenge we face and it doesn’t yet meet the urgency of the crisis we’re in. But together, it describes a way forward, proof that we have not given up or given in, a beginning from which we can build.
Some proposed next steps (open to yours in the comments):
1) Keep the pressure on the Senate Democrats. They are strong today but, without us pushing them, they could give in tomorrow. The administration will intimidate and threaten them. They need to be more afraid of their constituents and the American people than they are of anything else. This is our best near-term opportunity to provide a check on ICE:
a. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121.
b. List of all Senators’ Twitter accounts: https://ucsd.libguides.com/congress_twitter/senators
2) Join a protest or march. Sometimes what we read or share online doesn’t break through. But seeing your neighbors exercising their first amendment rights in the freezing cold has a way of waking you up and focusing your attention. Here is a listing of all related events in Mobilize. If someone has a better source, or if you want to advertise what action you’re taking in your community, please leave it in the comments. The general strike in Minnesota was impressive and broke through — if you know of similar efforts elsewhere, please list them in the comments.
3) Fund the candidates who must win. We need to pick up Senate seats in November if we’re going to stop these abuses and ensure accountability for the crimes committed. While some primaries are still in play (Texas), we have nominees who could use your help right now:
- Roy Cooper in North Carolina
4) Donate to those fighting for our rights. Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee organizes rapid response, protests, and monthly trainings for community members regarding ICE raids. Help them here: https://www.miracmn.com/
Las Americas provides crucial legal services to immigrants who are being targeted by ICE. You can donate to them here: https://lasamericas.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate
The ACLU of Texas is challenging conditions at local ICE detention centers and the illegal stops and arrests taking place across the state. Donate here: https://www.aclutx.org/donate/
5) Volunteer your time. Lots of options: Indivisible. Local candidates and county parties. There’s a cause or a candidate who can convert your anger and time into action and outcomes. In Texas, Powered by People volunteers are meeting young prospective voters wherever they are, helping them to register and staying in touch with them throughout the course of these elections. Voters in PXP’s 2024 program turned out at more than twice the state average. We need this kind of work if we’re going to win power. Join here: https://poweredxpeople.org/
6) Keep the faith and keep up the fight. They want us to give in to despair, to give up. Action is the antidote, and it is the key to victory. Keep moving, keep pushing, keep going.
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