On Saturday, an ICU nurse who was participating in anti-ICE activity was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agents that have turned Minneapolis into a war zone. Without question, Alex Pretti was armed. If you want to make cops nervous, that's the way to do it, even if you have a valid permit. At this point, there's no evidence that Pretti was brandishing his weapon, as Kristi Noem falsely claimed, or that he was intended to "massacre law enforcement," as Border Patrol czar Greg Bovino has stated. In fact, Pretti's gun was removed from a holster by an ICE agent before our masked police opened up and poured 9 or 10 bullets into him.
Without question, this homicide is yet another tragedy inflicted by poorly trained cowboys who, once again, initially refused to allow a physician to render aid. We've been asked to believe that this was a justifiable homicide by officers who were defending themselves from a domestic terrorist. Like Renee Good. Or a disabled American citizen on her way to her doctor when she was yanked from her car. Or detaining a 5 yo boy on his way home from pre-school. I'm sure they were domestic terrorists, too. Ironically, the same people who vehemently protested about being asked to wear masks during a pandemic see nothing wrong with secret police that is stepping all over our basic fourth and fifth amendment rights.
I've written several times that ICE is totally out of control and needs to refocus its entire strategy. But what I also hate is to see grubby politicians who lack the basic decency to wait until Pretti is buried before exploiting his death and trying to cash in. I'll give you three examples.
First, a PAC with ties to Kamala Harris began exploiting Pretti's death just hours after he was shot. "Alex Pretti is the limit," pontificated Democratic Youth Wave PAC, hitting people up for $50.
Second, Bernie Sanders exploited Pretti's death in a bombastic email today soliciting money for candidates in Minnesota. He only wants $27.
Finally, and close to him, Taiba Sultana sent a blast email to potential contributors on Sunday under the subject "ICE IS KILLING CEVILIANS [sic]". She announces "Another American Killed by Immigration Enforcement," tries to pin the blame on State Senator Lisa Boscola and then asks you to send her "$150 $250 $550 $1000 or any amount [that] helps us organize, reach voters, and prove that conscience still has a place in politics."
My conscience tells me that you don't exploit the murder of a fellow human being 24 hours after his death.
She finishes her email with "Because Pennsylvanian[sic] deserve better.
You certainly deserve someone better than Sultana in Harrisburg.
Bernie, your assessment comes with the benefit of slow-motion video, hours and hours of comments from direct observers, and a media frenzy that seems to eat this type of unfortunate incident up for ratings.
ReplyDeleteThe conditions in place there included a highly volatile, dangerous mob situation full of chaos and real time confusion. The ICE agent, like all other type policemen in real life, don’t get such luxury of hindsight. They must instantly react when an individual decides to no longer be just a peaceful protester by physically resisting arrest at a moment when his lethal weapon is simultaneously exposed ready for use.
OMG…he shot the man POINT BLANK on the ground while he was being beaten by how many ICE “officers”?! These are poorly trained losers and coward, open to tear gassing and murdering peaceful protesters point blank and simply in WAY over their heads.
DeleteStop fucking lying, 12:38AM. There was no mob and no chaos. ICE cowboys were wandering around in the street trying to pick a fight.
DeleteI want those responsible arrested. Jail for life. Very simple. Accountability.
The poor guy was just trying to get to a daycare. He was minding his own business.
DeleteI agree that the ICE agent who fired and the other who followed up were dealing with a chaotic situation. I'll agree that it's incredibly stupid to bring a loaded firearm into any situation where it is likely you are going to run into law enforcement. That's why you keep both hands on the steering wheel if stopped by a police officer. You don't want to make him nervous that you could harm him. So what this ICU nurse did was extremely dumb, even if he was by all accounts a kind man (and a cyclist). It could very well be that the ICE agent reasonably believed his life was in danger at the time he fired. He may have been unaware that the victim had already been disarmed and thought that he was going for his gun. A thorough investigation is needed, and I will add that, once you make the decision to use deadly force, you use it. So I get the 9 or 10 bullets. The videos also show that at no time did Pretti brandish his firearm. He only brandished a cellphone. He was actually trying to assist a lady who had been pushed to the ground. I also dislike that, once again, a physician was refused permission to render treatment, at least initially. That would not have mattered here, but it did matter for Renee Good. She had a pulse for 13-18 minutes after she was shot. The way ICE is doing this is all wrong. In this case, their target was an illegal who was actually released from federal custody in 2018 after being detained then, and who had a minor domestic misdemeanor that was quite old. He was hardly a dangerous criminal they pretended he was. And the overkill is ridiculous. When do you bring in an armored truck to take down a minor petty criminal like that? Why so many agents? If they really wanted this guy, the best way to get him was by using traditional police methods, not sending hordes of masked thugs who have no training and push everyone around. They need to pull back and focus on what the hell they are doing already. People agreed with you that our border was out of control, but they agree with me that ICE is out of control. The cure is worse than the disease.
ReplyDeleteWhy take so many agents you ask? Because as soon as the leave their place they are staying they are followed by protestors cursing, yelling, spitting on them. Throwing things at them .
DeletePutting their vehicles in front of the agents vehicles. So they have to take numbers with them for safety.
And your next question is you don't they do it the traditional way. Well that's because you have a radical governor won't let state law enforcement work with. And you have a radical mayor who won't let the local police work work with them.
This is exactly what those two radical politicians want. Fire up a couple radical idiots go fight law enforcement and hope something bad happens. Then blame the big bad orange guy.
I'm sorry, but I do not see what you see. I see people who are outraged at what is actually an occupation by a 3,000-member occupation force wearing masks, dressed in tactical gear and who have now killed two American citizens, yanked others out of their cars and have broken up families. This is all unnecessary. We were told that ICE would be focused on the worst of the worst, the violent gang members. But instead, they are stopping people, even off-duty police officers, because of their skin color or accent. There are videos of agents who actually say that to the people they stop. This is not targeted enforcement, but repression and a blatant violation of the rights enshrined in our founding documents. Trump needs to call a "time out" and refocus on strategy. ICE should not be his personal police force used to repress and harry citizens. What is happening is totally unAmerican.
DeleteLet me add that I'm astonished to her that the ICE officers involved in this shooting have NOT been placed on administrative leave, which should be standard operating procedure whenever an officer kills another person if only for that officer's own sake. They are still working, just in a different area. That tells me the federal "investigation" will be a whitewash.
DeleteGood put her SUV in reverse, turned the wheel and accelerated forward striking the LE officer off to the side of the front of her vehicle.
DeleteHer “wife” thought that this was all quite funny.
For an alternative take see Molovinsky on Allentown.
In this version of the episode the SUV never hit the officer.
9:04 Exactly. Peaceful protests & not insurrections are fine. I guess there should be very clear guidelines for ALL parties to follow when exercising their rights to "PEACEFULLY" (being the key word) protest. That being said, I do think this last incident needs to be thoroughly investigated & hopefully everyone learns from this.
DeleteThe poem "And then they came for me: so rings true. Wake up America
ReplyDeleteI agree ICE needs to back up and rework their procedures. But the truth is that Good and this guy both died from their own stupidity.
ReplyDeleteBerie and Minisotas national gard and local police is really the situation of appreheding criminal terrorist that jumped the line.
ReplyDeleteIt’s the 1930’s Nazi Germany right here in the USA.
DeleteFascism is on the march.
NO KINGS!
RESIST!!!!
Thank you for your reply. I am one who has seen no evidence the ICE officers, as you say, are hoards of masked thugs who have no training and push everyone around. If anyone is being pushed around it is another group of masked thugs who disregard lawful crowd control officer demands, while shoving back at officers.
ReplyDeleteBottom line, neither one of us wants to see these incidents happen. I’m afraid, we are about to see more of this as Minnesota and various city leaders have chosen not to cooperate, nor assist law enforcement. Some going so far as to facilitate the unruly mobs who have gathered there from all across this nation.
In my opinion, due to so much corruption and illegal behaviors in that failed state, allowing this nonsense to run unabated (and even supporting it) helps to serve as cover for high level persons yet to be charged and arrested. It is estimated, hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen from Minnesota and other states taxpayers.
Malfeasance is too light a word for what’s coming out on this other topic.
“Victims of their own making” about sums up what’s going on in Minneapolis.
ReplyDeleteThere is never a good reason to close distance and obstruct a law enforcement officer when performing their duty, even if you don’t agree with their actions.
It’s a predictable shame that the left emboldens itself with the blood of its least reasonable members.
I believe Renee Good was probably obstructing. I do not believe Mr. Pretti was doing that. He was observing from a distance, and it is actually he who was approached by ICE.
DeleteObserving at a distance? How'd you know this?
DeleteI know this because that is what the video montages show from several sources. He was observing from a distance as ICE ran after someone who went into a donut shop. A crowd was blowing whistles and ICE was denied entry, ICE then began moving toward the crowd and made contact with Pretti. It is ICE who escalated this situation. They have very poor training on work in urban settings. I think Trump now recognizes this, so you can sop defending the indefensible.
DeleteTell us more about the 5 year old boy who was kidnapped by agents who dangled him in front of his loving father to carry out their dastardly plot. This, like most of your other examples, smells of rotting lies by most main stream media, of which you are increasingly involved in. Your TDS rivals Molovinsky.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ice-detains-5-year-old-boy-and-his-father-who-were-returning-home-from-preschool-then-used-boy-as-bait-to-find-relatives/ar-AA1UK6C1?ocid=BingNewsSerp
DeleteThank you for standing up to the truth and giving your readers the unadulterated facts.
DeleteGod bless and protect you.
MSN….LOL! LOL!!!LOL!!!!!!!
DeleteBernie, thank you for your objective, unbiased, nonpartisan, fair and courageous analysis.
ReplyDeleteCarry on good sir.
ICE and DHS escalated the situation from 0 to 100 for no reason. Pushing women to the ground. Spraying Pretti in the face even once he was out of the street.
ReplyDeleteABOLISH ICE.
ABOLISH DHS.
IMPEACH NOEM AND BOVINO.
IMPEACH PATEL.
Stop using my tax dollars to kill innocent people!
@7:53 AM
DeleteOpen all border crossing and international ports of entry NOW!
Black and brown Americans are being pulled off of our streets and disappeared.
DeleteTHIS MUST STOP.
12:03pm = dumb post
Delete“When do you bring in an armored truck to take down a minor petty criminal like that? Why so many agents?”
ReplyDeleteAre you kidding me? You saw the video. Those who are interfering with law enforcement overwhelmed the “so many” ICE agents there.
People need to realize that these “protesters” are deliberately putting themselves in harm’s way. The Minneapolis mayor and Minnesota Governor are deliberately escalating the rhetoric against ICE and allowing people in those dangerous situations. Both are obviously trying to deflect from the fraud investigation and keep the feds from investigating THEIR involvement in the fraud.
I was glad to see the governor finally called up the National Guard, although it’s difficult to tell if they’ve been given any orders that will actually improve the situation. Competent state and local leadership would have kept both of these shootings from happening.
At the heart of all this is a disregard for the rule of law and a failure to accept the results of the 2024 election. That needs to end.
You seem to forget the results of the 2020 election when Trump lost by over 7 million votes and led his MAGA followers to storm our beautiful capital. The heart of all our problems is one man who brings out the worst in people.
DeleteI want to know who "Frank" is because I think we are just the bugs:
ReplyDeleteKurt Vonnegut's 1963 novel "Cat's Cradle."
"I can't remember what all Frank had fighting in the jar that day, but I can remember other bug fights we staged later on: one stag beetle against a hundred red ants, one centipede against three spiders, red ants against black ants. They won't fight unless you keep shaking the jar. And that's what Frank was doing, shaking, shaking the jar."
I see your point, but millions of illegals were let in under Biden, and they've apprehended thousands of criminals, but there are going to be mistakes made. Instead of acting like the rest of the media and jumping to conclusions, wait till ALL the facts are in, and then make your argument. If local authorities would assist rather than impede ICE, we wouldn't be in this situation. Sanders, Kamala, and the rest of their ilk prove Rahm Emanuels point- don't ever let a tragedy go to waste.
ReplyDeleteAgreed with everything you are saying. Would add that to date that the actions are justified by FBI and Homeland Security. My question, why Minnesota and not Texas or Florida?
ReplyDelete@8:43
DeleteTexas and Florida are cooperating with Federal ICE Agents.
The far right was outraged over Waco and Ruby Ridge and other police activity, when it involved right extremists and at Waco, perhaps pedophilia.
ReplyDeleteWhere’s the far right outrage over feds executing a man just for having a gun in his belt, legally? He wasn’t even holding it.
Agreed. Where is the 2A, don’t tread on me flag- waving, punisher t-shirt crowd now? The play-acting, anti big-government sissy-boys back right off when things get real.
DeleteUh, Bernie? The thugs who shot and executed an innocent man, AFTER they had taken his legally registered and concealed firearm, which he was NOT displaying or brandishing at them, away from him, are NOT "nervous cops". ANY well-trained, responsible law enforcement officer would NOT do what they did. Ask around. Even the police chief in Minneapolis agrees and has receipts to prove it. Look up the news conference he had that is posted on the internet. Those were poorly trained contract killers looking for an excuse to "send a message" to anybody who opposes the Fascist regime. Their "mission" was NOT to "protect the community". It was to incite violence and create fear. Equating them with professional law enforcement is an insult.
ReplyDeleteI always recommend that people carry their semiautomatic pistol with an extra magazine when they go out without ID to mess around with ICE Agents in the middle of a rockus public melee.
DeleteIt’s only good sense.
The ICE thugs misidentified their victim as a brown man.
DeleteHey 6:08... don't be confused. That's where he lived and worked, homie. It was his city. He was standing on his street. ICE came to Minneapolis to terrorize the public. Pretti was living there, subject to federal government tyranny. Make sense?
DeleteI wonder how many of these commenters would appreciate a mob of thugs with an attitude, blowing whistles, throwing snowballs, using their vehicles to interrupt their activities. I wonder how many of you commenters would be perfect in your jobs if you had this BS following you around all day as you did your job? ICE is doing their jobs. They are enforcing the law, as determined by Congress, directed by the POTUS and coordinated by DoHS. And this group of protesters are putting themselves in harms way for what? You need to be a special kind of stupid to put yourself in this situation, harrassing armed officers while they are focused on apprehending criminal elements in our society.
ReplyDeleteI would not appreciate being blocked by cars or by having people follow me around blowing whistles and calling me names. I certainly understand how this is annoying. But the First Amendment exists precisely so that citizens can annoy the government, so long as they do so lawfully. Blocking the street would be impeding law enforcement, I'll agree. But following ICE, in a place where you have a right to be, and blowing whistles in public places, which you have a right to do, is constitutionally protected free speech. If these officers were better trained, they would understand this. They have instead reacted with unnecessary force, which just invites more of the conduct and escalates things. Eventually, someone is shot and killed. ICE needs to regroup and rethink what it is doing. Bovino, who has actually been accused by a federal judge of lying to him in Chicago about his own use of force, should be relieved.
DeleteThanks you for the news on the five year old boy taken hostage then used as bait, and thank the Good Lord for MSN.
DeleteYou are a pandering POS, BO’H, but you and I both know that.
DeleteYou may be sober but you are most certainly not in recovery.
Nope. I would call most of what you described as obstruction of justice.
DeleteIt’s funny that this only seems to happen in places that are uncooperative with ICE.
In Minnesota these Leftists are being egged on by idiot politicians trying to cover up their own involvement in a massive fraud scheme.
I feel sorry for the two people who were shot. They’re the all too predictable victims of democrat politicians trying to save themselves from prison.
What about January 6th you conveniently overlook that
DeleteProtestors should protest, not interfere. Coordinated protests are protected by the First Amendment, but, if what I hear is right, elected officials should not organize, facilitate, or coordinate protests against federal government directive. As someone else pointed out elsewhere, ICE operates nationwide, why is Minnesota the war zone?
ReplyDeleteIf the man had a loaded firearm, he had that right. He was not brandishing it nor threatening anyone. Therefore, we must assume he was carrying for self-defense. Frankly, with what's going on in Minnesota, carrying for self-defense purposes is probably a good idea. But, if you're carrying, you should keep it quiet and just hold your signs and shout all you want and record anything you wish, but do not do anything that gets law enforcement's attention; do not interfere. The ACLU has great resources on what your rights are and are not when peaceably assembling. However, it appears that ICE is not familiar with the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, nor the Fourth Amendment. Sadly, too many Trump bootlickers are, just that; and Trump and his deputies just soak that stuff up and become more dangerous.
Minnesota is a flash point because the Governor, Attorney General and the Mayor of Minneapolis refuse to cooperate with federal authorities, to articulate the obvious.
DeleteThat's basically false. Minnesota'a DOC had a news conference over the weekend to document how their counties honor ICE detainers, even admin detainers. The Minneapolis police do not ask people to state their immigration status and report that to ICE. I know few police departments that do. They are busy enough enforcing state law.
DeleteYeah, carrying a loaded semi automatic firearm arm with an extra magazine while fooking around with Federal Agents in the middle of the street in a tense while they are actively engaged is a stellar idea in Minneapolis….’cause self defense.
DeleteWith the 24 or 32 rounds he was carrying for his Sig who, pray tell, was he defending himself from.
DeleteDid this guy have the legal right to carry a firearm?
Sure, even if it was a terminally bad idea.
I try never to wrestle with a scrum of police when I exercise my Second Amendment rights.
Theoretically you have the right to run back and forth across US Route 22, but it might not be a good idea.
DeleteStay safe. Stay home or stay away. Don’t put yourselves in harms way. It’s not worth it.
DeleteJif you have a conceal carry license you need to carry that ID with you. Fyi
DeleteJudging from online comments, not just here, the "Don't Tread on Me" crowd seems content on supporting government agents disarming a man and then shooting him. Since literacy, logic, and comprehension of history don't seem to be their thing, I'll toss out a freebie: the Cheka and NKVD did the same thing. They were government agencies, too.
DeleteI clearly stated that carrying a firearm and then antagonizing law enforcement wasn't a good idea, even though it's protected speech unless you begin to interfere or impede. A lot of people carry, and carry in large crowds and outdoor public events, and they do what they should, keep it quiet.
Don’t bring a gun to a knife fight, and don’t bring a gun to your peaceful protest.
ReplyDeleteThese protesters are not only trying to obstruct (disturbing the peace) and harrass, but also doing this to create an unsafe condition. Suppose in the middle of an arrest, because of the whistling and obstruction, an officer is distracted and gets injured or worse, killed by the perp? Will the media have the same hysteria against the mob? Of course not. This hysteria is manufactured. Same ICE, same Homan, same targets as when Obama did this, and where were the mobs then? We are our own worst enemy.
ReplyDeleteDon’t confuse Bernie with the facts.
DeleteJanuary 6 was a manufactured insurrection. I think you actually know this. Regardless, more on all that will be coming out soon.
DeleteI'll agree that blocking ICE constitutes obstruction or impeding. Following ICE (while obeying the rules of the road) is completely legal. Citizens have no obligation to drive away or close their eyes to pretend they are not seeing what is happening. You can generally record them and you can blow whistles, even if your desire is to harass and annoy because you are reporting what you consider wrongdoing, which is a first amendment right. If you actively interfere with an ICE detention, then you are breaking the law. It appears to me that Renee Good may have violated the law by blocking a street. I do not believe Pretti violated the law based on what I saw in the videos circulating online. If 3,000 ICE agents invaded Upper Mount Bethel, am sure that they would be resented as much as they are in Minneapolis.
DeleteUpper Mount Bethel is not harboring hundreds of criminal illegal immigrants.
Deletewhen Obama was deporting millions, nobody cared
DeleteThe guy who was shot was in the middle of street activity adding to the general mayhem unfolding.
DeleteRule of thumb: Dont be a royal pain in the ass when officers with guns and badges are doing their job in a high stress environment.
If you intend to fu€£ around with the cops, any cops, best leave your Sig Sauer at home in the safe.
Please, Bernie, you know better than to foist off this bullshit for some “likes”.
Pretti was in the middle of the street
Deletedirecting traffic in an effort to obscure Federal Officers.
They he inserted himself into an altercation between the officers and a woman who had just been pushed off the roadway.
His death is a tragedy of his own making.
No officers will be adjudicated criminally negligent.
3:49, You are correct, but guess what? Neither is Minneapolis. The largest number of illegals are in Texas and Florida.
DeleteI suggest you stop getting your news from ONLY MSNBC
ReplyDeleteAll over the Country, states & cities cooperate with the Feds- you don't see chaos, you see an orderly transition of illegals taken in custody. Whereas in Minnesota, you have Walz & Frey who think federal law doesn't apply to them. They love the chaos, since it takes away from the scandal of the Billions of dollars that were stolen, which by the way, were meant to help the Somalian Community.
ReplyDelete4:01, That's false. There have also been problems in Portland, Chicago and even Maine. There have been problems in NYC and in Philly. I even wrote about someone who was detained for several days in Philly despite having a valid green card.
DeleteJust like during covid, staying home saves lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen Obama was deporting millions, the press celebrateed it- even CNN went on "ride alongs" to document it.
ReplyDeleteTrue fact. But it's republicans and trump in office and the democrats see it differently now. Just incredible
DeleteSure, and there was no drama because his was targeted enforcement as opposed to sweeping raids. Nobody got killed.
DeleteNobody got killed because local politicians, governors, prosecutors, and law enforcement cooperated with immigration enforcement.
DeleteNobody got killed because the organized political left wing mobs didn’t flood the streets, attacking, stalking and harassing officials and their efforts. Nobody was doxing agents, targeting their vehicles or trashing hotels where they stay.
Nobody got killed because it was Obama doing the deed. And he of course was untouchable, pure as the driven snow.
So, what’s different now? You know damn well what’s different now. Or should I say “Who’s” different now?
No protests or riots when cognitively compromised Biden open the floodgates at our southern border. And how did those 12 million people make it through Mexico?
They either paid drug cartels outright, agreed to join the cartels in America, or agreed to pay monetary monthly kickbacks via salaries earned from hourly wages. Do you think those guys landscaping and roofing in the summer aren’t paying off their travel debt to cartels?
It’s one thing to be stupid, and we know there’s no shortage of stupid people in the Democrat party, where most of their base is produced in failing inner city schools and neighborhoods.
But those aren’t the people protesting and rioting, right?
It’s the willfully ignorant left stirring the pot, creating the chaos, and then producing the faux tears when they facilitate the bloody outcomes that they wanted all along.
@10:01am Well said. They don't seem to realize the gaslighting isn't working anymore. Yes there was January 6 and that was wrong and now they are in the wrong.
DeleteBidens DOJ used armored vehicles to arrest a J6 demonstrator in NJ, and went overboard arresting the Scott family from Pen Argyl- but that was ok.
DeleteGood 'ol Bernie- the guy who rants & raves against Capitalism, yet owns 3 homes. He never ceases to amaze me.
ReplyDeleteThe left is ruining this country they must be dealt with.
ReplyDeleteGo away, Tricia.
DeleteBernie I am middle of the road person politically. I agree that Biden screwed up with his border policy and I support the deportation of criminal undocumented people. I supported it under previous presidents who accomplished it without killing people. I read the viewpoints of your readers and rarely comment. I am truly shocked at how many of your readers had such a hard time with masking during a pandemic yet utterly and completely have no problem with the execution of a peaceful protestor. He was clearly trying to help that woman on the ground, and was killed for it. The government says he should not have brought a gun to a protest- and your readers agree! The difference between what is wise and what is constitutionally protected appears to be lost by many of your readers. What happened to the Second Amendment? I look for consistency and insight from people who comment and I guess I should not be looking for it here. I read the comments to understand what the average Joe in Northampton County thinks and feels, and it is truly depressing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone is saying the second amendment doesn't apply. You can envoke your right, but with that right comes potential consequences, legal or not. Freedom of Speech! Yet when I say stupid things, the public can ex-communicate me from society. Second Amendment! Yet, when I carry in a tense situation, the sight of a firearm creates a possible unintended reaction from others. Rights are clear. The response to you invoking your rights is not. Be prepared for ANY response from humans, trained or not, to you declaring your rights. Use wisdom.
DeletePerhaps the best entry I’ve ever seen here. Kudos.
DeleteImmigration enforcement is hard. No doubt. That is why, when a citizen is gunned down while helping another citizen, people are upset. Skill and care needs to be deployed here. Yet many people on this page are saying, in essence as you are, he brought this on himself. He did not. He showed up at a protest with a gun, not brandished, and was killed for it. And yet the majority of commenters on this page are saying, he deserved what he got. Please look in the mirror, second amendment people.
ReplyDeleteHonor ICE detainers and it would solve a lot of this crap.
ReplyDelete