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A note from Garry Kasparov: Let’s have a real conversation about democracy. ICE. Greenland. Ukraine. Iran. It’s all fair game for discussion. Click here to register [ [link removed] ] for our next premium subscriber Zoom, taking place Tuesday, February 3 at 5pm ET.
Evan Gottesman is managing editor of The Next Move and director of communications and special projects at the Renew Democracy Initiative.
ICE killed another American yesterday. His name was Alex Pretti, and he was a registered nurse for the VA. Pretti was filming ICE operations in Minneapolis. Videos of his death seem to show Pretti helping a woman accosted by federal agents. The ICE agents tackle Pretti, disarm him (he had a permit to carry a gun, which he did not appear to draw), and shoot him.
They shoot. Again and again and again.
Pretti is the third person shot by ICE—and the second to be killed by an immigration agent—in Minnesota in the past month alone.
We have to understand this sort of thing as both intentional and inevitable. Instead of asking, why did this happen, we need to ask, why wouldn’t they shoot somebody?
Today’s ICE agents are inclined to treat their fellow American poorly (to say nothing of their abuse of non-Americans). Instead of looking for people to perform the work of, well, immigration and customs enforcement, ICE recruitment [ [link removed] ] now seeks out those who want to “defend your culture.” People who want to “defend the homeland.”
Naturally, this attracts individuals with a certain politics. Last week, we saw an ICE employee outed as a bona fide fascist [ [link removed] ]. The ICE agent’s ideology is not tempered by his training, which the Trump administration shortened [ [link removed] ] in order to expand the force’s manpower, rushing unqualified officers into the field. Four months of training has become six weeks.
Surely these agents are not fond of the “ICE watch” groups who film them on the job. That alone does not make the agents fascists. But law enforcement is not just any job. It requires special discipline, literally, the patience to not shoot from the hip.
Can agents de-escalate with rowdy civilians? Do ICE’s ideologically-motivated recruits have the restraint necessary to handle liberal protesters? Do ICE agents share the judgment of politicians and administration officials who demonize those protesters as “domestic terrorists” [ [link removed] ]?
Why wouldn’t they shoot somebody?
The ICE agent knows that if he encounters protesters (or someone who happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time) and if things get ugly, then he will be exonerated by the president of the United States. The secretary of Homeland Security, and every other sycophant in government and media will clear his name too.
This is what happened with Jonathan Ross, the agent who killed Renee Nicole Good earlier this month. Within hours of the shooting, Donald Trump and Kristi Noem declared that Ross had acted in self-defense. Case closed, as far as the administration was concerned.
So it was again yesterday, with the officer who killed Alex Pretti. “An agent fired defensive shots [ [link removed] ],” the official DHS account on X declared. A rather firm conclusion to offer up so quickly, especially considering federal authorities blocked Minnesota state law enforcement from the scene. You’ll just have to take the administration’s word for it (and ignore the video evidence).
Why wouldn’t they shoot somebody?
A video [ [link removed] ] making the rounds on right-wing social media shows an ICE agent complaining that protesters are getting in the way of arresting a sex offender.
Maybe that was the case in this particular instance. Maybe not. Why should the protesters believe a federal officer given the administration’s reflexive dishonesty? Millions of Americans have seen ICE harass, and, on multiple occasions, kill civilians. Should we be more afraid of a dangerous criminal who might be present in our neighborhood, or an armed agent of the state who is seemingly accountable to no one?
There’s a narrative principle called Chekhov’s Gun. Every plot element introduced in a story must ultimately be used later on. If a loaded gun is seen on stage in Act I, then it will be fired before the conclusion of the show.
Donald Trump has made ICE into a Chekhov’s Gun wherever its agents appear The aggressively nativist recruiting language. The generous signing bonuses, lax screening, and hurried training. The sense of impunity. Allowing agents to enter homes without a warrant [ [link removed] ]. All in service of protecting real Americans from invaders and subversives.
The administration grew ICE’s ranks by 120% [ [link removed] ] over the past year. The majority of its agents entered service in this hyper-nationalistic, lawless milieu.
Taken together, this is what makes tragedy inevitable. When ICE shows up, misfortune seems to follow. It is that way by design.
Why wouldn’t they shoot somebody?
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