Cliff’s Note: After my rant a handful of Senate Democrats planning to weakly join 7 House Democrats in screwing the rest of us—funding Trump’s low-rent SS—have come around. Supporting good Democrats, winning, and enacting our values requires that we challenge the sellouts, and weak leadership when it threatens us. I will keep doing it.
I’m done pretending this is complicated.
Alex Pretti was almost certainly murdered by federal agents in Minneapolis, and everything that followed—the excuses, the delays, the finger-pointing—was designed to make all of us tired, confused, and numb. That’s how dictators operate now.
The flaccid toy soldiers of convicted felon Donald Trump flood the zone with enough horseshit to hamper accountability for assassins, while another American lies dead in our streets courtesy of the Schutzstaffel. So let’s slow this down and cut through the crap. Here are five things you need to know about the Alex Pretti murder—and why it should terrify and enrage anyone who wants to live in a functioning democracy.
This Was a Public Execution, Not an “Incident”
Let’s stop soft-pedaling the language. A man was tackled in the street by multiple federal agents and shot five times on camera. Another woman was shot in the face. A 5-year old child was kidnapped while his mom begged for him to be returned to her at home. That’s not law enforcement error, it’s lethal force and totalitarianism with with total confidence there’ll be no consequences. If any civilian did this, we’d already be in prison.
ICE Is Operating as a Masked, Unaccountable Paramilitary
These agents don’t identify themselves. They wear masks. They ignore basic due process. They violate state law and the Constitution in plain sight. This is exactly what secret police look like. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make it less true. You can believe in closely monitoring your borders, this is unrelated criminal behavior.
Congress Is Complicit: Including Some Democrats
Congress funds this. Look, we know virtually every Republican is a fascist-enabling MAGA ghoul for a moronic Mad King-let out of his mind. Still, seven House Democrats voted to fund DHS and ICE after Renee Good was shot in the face. After viral video of an ICE agent with an SS tattoo threatening civilians.
Funding is permission. Votes are messages about what is good and acceptable. Those seven Democrats attacked America, our democracy, and the Democratic Party, giving a thumbs up to ICE. They even provided the one-vote margin Republicans needed to pass a despicable, anti-constitutional bill.
Democratic Leadership Failed to Stop It
Either House Democratic leadership approved the vote, or they were too weak to stop the seven chuds. Those are the only options. A functioning caucus does not allow seven members to enable state violence. If you can’t hold your own people accountable, you’re not leading. If Hakeem Jeffries won’t lead, he must step aside.
Accountability Still Exists, If Anyone Has the Courage to Use It
Governors, attorneys general, and district attorneys have the authority to act. Federal agents are not above state law. Arrest them. Prosecute them. Call the National Guard if necessary and let Trump fight it in court. And the rest of us? Show up. Protest. Primary the complicit. Be nonviolent, but don’t let this stand.
Cliff’s Note: Friends, I was more profane than usual in my furious rant. Yet, I couldn’t come close to using the profanity of masked, armed, unidentified goons pushing over a 37-yr old registered nurse as he tried to help a woman in distress, beating him, and shooting him 10 times, ripping his life from his body.
