On January 7, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Renee Nicole Good and her wife, Becca Good, were on their way home after they dropped off their six-year-old son.
Good stopped to observe commotion involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and, as she went to leave, her SUV blocked the road.
An ICE agent approached the vehicle, and Becca Good exited the car, recording as Renee Good then pulled forward slightly to go left.
Then two agents quickly approached the vehicle, and one aggressively pulled the handle saying, “get out of the f-ing car.” The first agent, Jonathan Ross, was now on the vehicle’s front left side.
Good backed up, turning the front of her car away from Ross. She then went into drive and turned her wheels to the right, turning her car away from the officer in an attempt to get away.
As she tried to escape, Ross, a masked murderer gunned down Good, an unarmed mother of three in front of her spouse.
Ross, a veteran ICE agent and experienced firearms instructor should know that the only time a firearm should be used against another human is when your life or the life of another is in immediate danger. Videos in clear resolution show that Ross is not being run over, and it is questionable whether the vehicle made any contact with him at all.
Reports claimed that Ross went to the hospital for “internal bleeding,” but left only a couple of hours later, so it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that internal bleeding means a slight bruise.
Federal agents stood there doing nothing, as bystanders rushed to help. Eventually, they did do something: they blocked the attempts to help. A physician identified himself and asked to help, “I don’t care!” said an agent and all further attempts were declined. Agents drove away leaving Good to die as she waited for help.
Head of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, called Good’s acts “domestic terrorism.” Trump described how Good “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE officer.”
Then just 17 days later Alex Pretti was shot.
On January 24th, in Minneapolis whistles could be heard alerting of the presence of ICE in the area. Alex Pretti was holding his cellphone recording as two women confronted an ICE officer.
As he records Pretti guiding a car past, he can then be heard shouting, “Do not push them into the traffic!”
An agent was pushing one of the women toward Pretti, then approached and pushed Pretti who was defending the first woman, and then shoved the other woman to the ground. Pretti holds up his hands and turns away as he is sprayed with a chemical irritant.
Alex Pretti is an ICU nurse who worked a great amount with veterans, and his first instinct was to help. As he tried to help the woman up he asked, “are you ok” he was pulled off by one ICE agent and five others joined and began pushing him down.
One officer hit Pretti repeatedly in the head with a metal can. Another officer walked to the situation as the rest began to shout “Gun! Gun!” The officer pulled Alex Pretti’s legally registered firearm out of his belt and walked away as Pretti struggled with his hands nowhere near his belt.
As the agent moved away with the gun, unarmed Pretti was shot at least 5 times. As Pretti laid there motionless an officer fired 5 more final shots.
One officer can be seen applauding, another is heard saying “boo hoo” to the yelling crowd.
Kristi Noem said Pretti approached a “border patrol officer” with the gun and “attempted to disarm” him, “but he reacted violently.” She said that he “arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.” Kristi Noem is lying, again.
Killings in the street are being lied about, and the victims are being labeled terrorists. ICE is becoming a right-wing government organization that has “free rein to do whatever it wants to its victims.” That is not me describing ICE, no, that is The World Holocaust Remembrance Center describing the actions of the Gestapo in 1933 Germany.
Deportations were often enacted at the beginning of the Nazi regime, along with detention centers, similar to those seen in the US today.
The Washington Post released an article on January 17 about a Texas detention camp where Geraldo Lunas Campos lost his life. Where investigation revealed the preliminary cause to be asphyxia due to chest and neck compression.
A witness reported Campos being strangled to death by an ICE officer, and the government tried to cover it up.
On December 15th, a pregnant woman in Minnesota was dragged through the snow by agents, and the president of the United States said, “Every one of them should be forced to leave this country.” No responsibility is being taken, and victims are being blamed.
Trump continues his push to be America’s first authoritarian leader, threatening to use the military in Minnesota to suppress protests.
He wants to do this using the Insurrection Act, which is meant to be used as a last resort to stop insurrections, violence, or attacks on federal law.
After real attacks on our democracy on January 6 criminals were granted a pardon, but now Trump wants to use the act because he thinks Minnesota citizens and officials are acting against US law by protesting his agenda. The right to protest is part of the First Amendment, but it is no surprise that the president forgot that.
The target of Minnesota for ICE’s occupation is also a significant concern. The estimated population of illegal immigrants in Minnesota is 100,000, but Minnesota is a blue state, and the illegal immigrant population in Texas is an estimated 2,000,000, but Texas is a red state.
This shift towards authoritarianism should trouble all Americans; rights are being stripped, and when people fight for them, lives are being taken.
Striking similarities to regimes and dictatorships of the past, present serious concerns about the possibilities for the future if a change is not made.
The path we are on is one of corruption and terror, and if citizens and politicians alike do not make attempts to diverge from it, the day could come when the nation is united no longer.•