Dear John,

We all saw it with our own eyes. Donald Trump’s Border Patrol agents murdered Alex Pretti in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Alex was blinded by pepper spray, held down and beaten by at least five federal agents, and completely incapacitated. He held a phone in his hand, not a gun. He was a registered nurse who treated veterans. He had no criminal record, and he had a firearms permit, as required by state law in Minnesota to carry a handgun.

Now Republicans want to give ICE and Border Patrol tens of billions more to continue brutalizing immigrants and American citizens who dare to exercise their First Amendment rights.

Enough. Hell, no. We must not let that happen.

Inequality Media Civic Action is mobilizing an emergency push to block the latest Department of Homeland Security bill and rein in Trump’s masked mass deportation army. The Senate is expected to vote on this bill by the end of this week, so it’s critical that we ramp up our efforts now.

Please make a donation to help educate the public and block additional taxpayer dollars for ICE, CBP, and the rest of Trump’s murderous mass deportation regime.

The killing of Alex Pretti was the third shooting involving federal agents in Minneapolis this month, including the murder of Renee Good on January 7.

In addition, at least 36 people have died in ICE detention centers since Trump took office, including a Cuban immigrant named Geraldo Lunas Campos, who was allegedly choked to death by security officers and whose death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner.

The response to these killings by the Trump administration has been to lie, escalate, and smear the victims.

Almost everyone in America is now aware of the brutality of Trump’s goons. It’s becoming harder for Americans to tell themselves that Trump is going after only “hard-core criminals.” Or even “illegal immigrants.” Or even Latinos. Or Black people. Or communists or “radical left extremists.”

He’s coming after all of us who oppose his tyranny and brutality, who defy his dictatorship, and who challenge his out-of-control, murderous thugs.

All across America, we must rise up against this oppression — peacefully but definitively — and here’s what we must do right now.

Last week, the House of Representatives passed a new $64 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, including extending the current funding levels for ICE and imposing virtually zero meaningful limits or accountability.

The Senate is scheduled to take up the bill by the end of this week, and Democrats must join together with any Republicans who have a conscience to block this bill, disarm ICE, ban racial and ethnic profiling, and explicitly remove agents’ immunity from criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits.

If you’re with me, please donate to help us continue our work to educate the public and block all new funding for Trump’s masked army of immigration thugs.

Thank you,

Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action