“This is a massive overreach of power by the Trump administration. Due process isn’t optional. It’s a fundamental right.”

The rogue Department of Homeland Security, declaring itself to be above mere constitutional restraints, has now murdered two Americans without provocation or excuse, lied about both, and tried to block any independent investigation (excluding even the FBI from the inquiry into Alex Pretti’s execution, suggesting it understands that not even Kash Patel’s bureau will consent to a coverup).

Moreover, DHS has said it need not abide by one of the cornerstones of our democracy, the 4^th Amendment (which sprang from a central grievance against George III’s tyranny), nor does it intend to protect the right wing’s favorite item in the Bill of Rights, the 2^nd Amendment. In doing so, the Trump regime reveals itself once again as a lawless rogue operation seeking to turn America into a police state.

What 4^th Amendment?

A whistleblower recently revealed an internal Department of Homeland Security memo purporting to assert unlimited authority to enter people’s homes by force to make immigration arrests without a judge’s warrant.

The ludicrous assertion of unfettered power amounts to the repudiation of critical protection against tyrannical rule. The ACLU asserted:

“This is a massive overreach of power by the Trump administration. Due process isn’t optional. It’s a fundamental right.” Or it used to be a fundamental right, before the Trump regime decided to go all in on the authoritarian project.

The 4^th Amendment states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Institute of Justice explains: “Before the American Revolution, officials used general warrants to search and seize colonists’ property at will. These general warrants and ‘writs of assistance” gave officials unfettered power, since they specified neither the places to be searched nor what items to be seized.” That concern motivated the Framers to guarantee the new federal government would not adopt that practice. The principle that judicial warrants are required to arrest someone in their home has been confirmed in multiple Supreme Court opinions.

Once upon a time, self-proclaimed conservatives understood this principle. “The Framers often said that ‘a man’s house is his castle,’ a phrase that had existed in English common law for centuries. …After all, property isn’t truly yours if you fear that government officials may break down the door at any moment.” So much for the assertion of private property as the key to personal liberty, a concept which they frequently invoked as the basis for “stand your ground” protections for a resident to fire on intruders. Now, Republicans — having evidently lost their attachment to the Bill of Rights — remain silent.

Democrats, however, have spoken out forcefully against this constitutional butchery, as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D- Conn.) did last week during a CNN appearance: It is a blatant, craven violation of the Fourth Amendment — a bedrock protection for people in the privacy of their homes. Americans should be terrified that this secret ICE policy authorizes agents to break down doors and ransack through their homes, arresting or detaining people without a judicial warrant.

There’s a critical difference between that administrative warrant, which is signed by an ICE officer or a deportation official, and a judicial warrant where a judge and a court have to find that there is a cause — probable cause to enter someone’s home.

Plainly, DHS officials know what they are up to is blatantly unconstitutional. They have kept the memo under wraps, allowing it to be read only in person and conveyed verbally. (The term “evidence of consciousness of guilt” comes to mind.)

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who recently walked back his permission for racially profiled “Kavanaugh stops,” might be chagrined to know this regime does not put much stock in the 4^th Amendment. If Kavanaugh now concedes that “[t]he Amendment requires that immigration stops must be based on reasonable suspicion of illegal presence, stops must be brief, arrests must be based on probable cause, and officers must not employ excessive force,” surely he would be nonplussed that DHS thinks it need not abide by the 4^th Amendment when it comes to Americans’ most sacred territory, one’s own home.

MAGA throws the 2^nd Amendment under the bus

Republicans have long extolled the inviolability of 2^nd Amendment, pushed for concealed carry laws, and subverted attempts to impose even minimal restrictions on gun owners. They turned Kyle Rittenhouse, an armed protestor who killed two unarmed people in Wisconsin, into a national hero.

Well, that only applies to their own supporters, it seems. FBI director Kash Patel falsely stated on Sunday, “You cannot bring a firearm, loaded, with multiple magazines, to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple.” That is a lie. Minnesota has a concealed carry law that gun owners do not lose when they attend a rally. (Perhaps Trump should not have pardoned the armed, violent Jan. 6 protestors; perhaps they should not have lionized Rittenhouse.)

House Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) said on CBS, “In most states, you are not allowed to carry a gun while you’re committing another crime, and interfering with law enforcement is a felony.” Alex Pretti, as multiple witnesses and multiple videos prove, was not interfering with law enforcement. Perhaps the NRA has wasted money all these years backing Scalise and other Republicans to the hilt.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the initial blowback: “The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting—a right the federal government must not infringe upon,” the advocacy group Gun Owners of America said on Saturday afternoon in response to a Justice Department official’s suggestion that law enforcement officers would likely be justified in shooting anyone who approaches with a gun.

The Democrat's Response

Democrats need be prepared to call out every U.S. senator and House member on the ballot in November with simple questions: My opponent thinks you have no rights against tyranny, even in your own home. Is that what you want? My opponent thinks law enforcement has impunity to kill licensed gun owners abiding by the law. Is that what you want?

We can see what is going on here. As MAGA slips into kneejerk defense of out-and-out fascism, no Constitutional right is sacred. This is what the “democracy issue” entails: the loss of all personal freedoms to an all-powerful state. Now, Americans must decide whether they want to give up on the 250-year experiment in opposing tyranny. They should not be confused as to where Democrats stand or where Republicans are happy to take us.

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"Our president has the emotional maturity of a ten-year-old, and our country’s reputation is paying the price" - Thom Hartmann

 

— So much for the “anti-big-government right” in America. Growing up in Michigan, I had a friend whose dad was in the Michigan Militia, a rightwing group that used to go into the forests of northern Michigan to “train” with semiautomatic weapons and survival tactics for the day when the “jackbooted thugs” from the “big government” would try to “end our freedom.” My Republican activist dad told me they were just bigots and “boys who never grew up,” but I always felt like they’d be the shock troops for a fascist takeover, should that ever happen to America.    

That was sixty years ago, long before they tried to kidnap and kill Michigan’s governor and long before anybody took Trump seriously. But now, according to a fascinating report in this week’s Washington Post, those same government-skeptical right-wingers are now fully embracing Trump’s racist crackdown on brown people using so-called “Kavanaugh Stops” in which people are now legally racially profiled. The key to their change of attitude appears to hang on the race of the people the government is targeting; so long as it’s going after people of color, they’re 100% on board. 

Apparently, these yahoos have never read Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famous poem, “First they came for…” Government that selectively enforces the law to the detriment of one disfavored group will almost always eventually turn on others. These idiots are just too stupid to realize what they’re cheering on…   

— It was the third or fourth shot that killed Renee Good. An autopsy commissioned by her family found that the first shot nicked her arm and the second shot hit her breast, but neither would have killed her. It was the third shot, taken from the side of the car into her head and completely unnecessary, that killed her. This sure looks like pure homicide, which is probably why Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, and Kristi Noem are doing everything they can to cover up this crime.

— Trump’s war on the First Amendment threatens to change America forever. Colby Hall writes for Mediaite.com: “In a functioning democracy, the federal government does not compile dossiers on students for their political views, threaten journalists with prison for covering protests, or seize reporters’ devices as a warning to sources. Yet all three have now come into focus in the United States, supported by newly unsealed court records and recent actions by the Trump administration.” He then proceeds to document in painful detail multiple times the Trump regime has violated the basic tenets of our First Amendment, including arresting and deporting people based on their speech, searching journalists’ phones and computers without legal authority, and the president himself calling for the criminal prosecution of a reporter (Don Lemon). 

Our largest media outfits are ignoring this (after many of them paid Trump off), hoping to avoid Emperor Trump’s wrath, or openly sucking up to him (CBS/Washington Post/LA Times/etc.). This isn’t about partisan loyalty anymore; it’s about whether we’re willing to live in a country where speech is still technically legal but exercising it gets you threatened with arrest, searched without warrants, or singled out for prosecution by the president himself. This is what Ben Franklin warned about when he said, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Without a truly free and open press, the space for dissent quietly shrinks and people learn to stay silent just to stay safe. And our republic dies.

— How did America get to the point where a five-year-old hostage is an acceptable tool of law enforcement? When ICE can detain a five year old and reportedly use that terrified child as bait while armed agents sweep neighborhoods under an explicit promise of immunity from Gauleiter Stephen Miller, it’s fair to ask how America got to the point where a five-year-old hostage is an acceptable tool of law enforcement. This isn’t about enforcing the law, it’s about raw, naked power being used without restraint, and cruelty being inflicted on people without consequence, encouraged from the top and excused after the fact by people who know better. The surge in drawn guns, shootings, and intimidation isn’t a breakdown of discipline, it’s the logical result of telling agents they won’t be held accountable no matter who they harm or how they do it. 

When most of the people being arrested have no criminal record and children are dragged into the machinery of fear, the lie that this is about public safety collapses completely. A country that tolerates terrorizing kids to score political points doesn’t just brutalize families in the moment, it corrodes the moral core of America and teaches that raw force matters more than law, conscience, or humanity.

— House passes bill funding ICE with help from seven turncoat Democrats: the bill provides more billions to Immigration and Customs Enforcement with no meaningful constraints on its violent tactics in Minnesota or elsewhere. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Jared Golden (D-ME), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), Don Davis (D-NC), Tom Souzzi (D-NY), and Vincente Gonzalez of Texas all broke ranks with the American people and their constituents to give ICE even more money and absolutely no constraints. No outlawing masks or Klan hoods, no requiring actual judicial warrants before they kick in your front door, no funding investigations of their violence or their concentration camps, nothing. 

If one of these fools represents you, you may want to call 202-224-3121 and let them know what you think of this traitorous behavior. And don’t forget to let Hakeem Jeffries, who allowed this to happen in a way Nancy Pelosi would never have tolerated, know how disappointed we all are in his failure of leadership. If Chuck Schumer has a similarly difficult time holding his caucus in line when this hits the Senate, it’s past time for Democrats to seriously reconsider our leadership choices. At the very least, supporting fascism like this should result in the loss of committee appointments.

— The Trump administration goes after protesters that stormed a church but they’re entirely fine with the protesters who stormed the capitol, killed and harmed police, and smeared poop on the wall of the capitol. I understand that there’s no First Amendment provision that protects the right to bust into a church and disrupt their services, but the outrage coming from the Trump regime and Fox “News” around this makes a mockery of their deification of the people who attacked our Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 election. Republicans have managed to elevate hypocrisy to an art form…

— Trump is using our money to target states that didn’t vote for him. Surprise. Trump is reviewing federal funds to Democratic-led-states. Can anyone stand up to the bully? Russell Vought, the architect of Project 2025 and now head of the Office of Management and Budget has ordered a “review” of pretty much all federal funds flowing into Blue States. Targets include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington, DC. 

“This is authoritarianism, plain and simple,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), whose state is the only one on the list with a Republican governor. “The Trump administration is targeting states that didn’t vote for him—including my home state of Vermont. Using federal power to punish political opponents is anti-democratic and blatantly illegal.” Amen. So, what are Democrats going to do about it? Inquiring minds want to know…

— King of the World bully uses “board of Peace” just like he uses Tariffs. It’s all about bullying and loyalty to Emperor Trump. Trump is now trying to replace the UN with a new “Board of Peace” with him as its unchallengeable leader for life, him alone able to appoint his own successor from his own family, and member states paying a billion dollars that Trump gets to decide how to use. 

Before all these bizarre details came out and this was just part of the UN’s plan for implementing a peace deal in Gaza, Canada had initially agreed to consider membership. But after that nation’s Prime Minister Mark Carney gave a fire-and-brimstone speech at Davos warning the world about Trump’s dangerous anti-democratic impulses, Trump went to his Nazi-infested social media site to un-invite Canada. Our president has the emotional maturity of a ten-year-old, and our country’s reputation is paying the price…

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"...[Moreover], for weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city. 

"These unprecedented tactics—which even the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration has characterized as embarrassing, lawless and cruel—have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. 

"And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they've deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren't informed by any serious investigation—and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence..."

Last week tested Ukraine once again with intensified attacks at home and decisive leadership on the global stage

🔥 Renewed Attacks & Winter Hardships
Russia launched another wave of missile and drone strikes, once again targeting Ukraine’s energy grid and civilian infrastructure. Power outages spread across multiple regions as freezing winter temperatures set in. Homes, hospitals, and schools were left without electricity or heat, forcing communities to rely on generators, volunteers, and each other. As always, it is civilians who bear the brunt of this aggression — and yet, they endure.

🛡️ Ukraine Holds the Line
Despite these conditions, Ukrainian forces continue to resist and respond strategically. Precision strikes were carried out against key Russian military and logistical targets supporting the war effort. These actions are focused on reducing Russia’s ability to sustain attacks and defending Ukraine’s people, sovereignty, and future.

🌍 Davos & Ukraine’s Voice to the World
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a powerful message: Ukraine’s fight is not only about its own survival, but about global security, international law, and the principle that aggression must never be rewarded. He urged world leaders and businesses to remain united, strengthen support for Ukraine, and ensure accountability — stressing that a frozen conflict is not peace.

🕊️ A Just and Lasting Peace
Ukraine continues to advance its Peace Formula, centered on territorial integrity, security guarantees, accountability for war crimes, and the protection of global food and energy stability. Ukraine’s position remains clear: peace must be just, lasting, and rooted in truth — not compromise with terror.

Thank you for standing with Ukraine. Your continued support, solidarity, and voice truly make a difference.

Slava Ukraini 💙💛
— The Ukrainian Apparel Team

Make Your Voice Heard

 

President Obama's and Mrs. Obama's Statement on the Murder of Alex Pretti

JANUARY 25, 2026

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Federal law enforcement and immigration agents have a tough job. But Americans expect them to carry out their duties in a lawful, accountable way, and to work with, rather than against, state and local officials to ensure public safety. That's not what we're seeing in Minnesota. In fact, we're seeing the opposite.

For weeks now, people across the country have been rightly outraged by the spectacle of masked ICE recruits and other federal agents acting with impunity and engaging in tactics that seem designed to intimidate, harass, provoke and endanger the residents of a major American city. 

These unprecedented tactics—which even the former top lawyer of the Department of Homeland Security in the first Trump administration has characterized as embarrassing, lawless and cruel—have now resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. 

And yet rather than trying to impose some semblance of discipline and accountability over the agents they've deployed, the President and current administration officials seem eager to escalate the situation, while offering public explanations for the shootings of Mr. Pretti and Renee Good that aren't informed by any serious investigation—and that appear to be directly contradicted by video evidence.

This has to stop. I would hope that after this most recent tragedy, administration officials will reconsider their approach and start finding ways to work constructively with Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as well as state and local police to avert more chaos and achieve legitimate law enforcement goals.

In the meantime, every American should support and draw inspiration from the wave of peaceful protests in Minneapolis and other parts of the country. They are a timely reminder that ultimately it's up to each of us as citizens to speak out against injustice, protect our basic freedoms, and hold our government accountable.

"Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs"

 

On a street in Minneapolis, at least seven federal agents tackled and then shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse for the local VA hospital.   

Video from the scene shows Pretti directing traffic on a street out of an area with agents around, then trying to help another person get up after she had been pushed to the ground by the agents. The agents then surround Pretti and shoot pepper spray into his face, then pull him to the ground from behind and hit him as he appears to be trying to keep his head off the ground. 

An agent appears to take a gun out of Pretti’s waistband during the struggle, then turns and leaves with it. A shot then stops Pretti’s movements, appearing to kill him, before nine more shots ring out, apparently as agents continued to fire into his body.

It looked like an execution. After he was dead, the agents walked away, apparently making no effort to preserve the crime scene, which people on the street later tried to secure by walling it off with trash bins.

As journalist Philip Bump noted, administration officials didn’t even pretend to wait for more information before jumping straight to “the opponent of the state deserved it.”

Mitch Smith of the New York Times reported that federal agents have blocked state investigators from the scene. Drew Evans of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, a statewide investigations team that specializes in police shootings, told reporters his agency had obtained a search warrant—a rare step—but the federal government still refused them access.

In a lawsuit against Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and other administration officials, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison asked a judge for a temporary restraining order to prevent DHS agents from destroying evidence related to the shooting. 

The suit noted the “astonishing” departure from normal investigations, seemingly trying not to preserve evidence but to destroy it. A judge, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, immediately granted the restraining order, barring the administration from “destroying or altering evidence” concerning the killing.

Ernesto Londoño of the New York Times reported that federal officials also “have refused to disclose the identities of federal agents involved in Saturday’s shooting, as well as the names of federal agents who have shot people in recent days.”

Minnesota police have refused to obey the federal officers, though. Local law enforcement has been talking to witnesses and finding videos of the shooting. Minneapolis police chief Brian O’Hara said at a press conference: “Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity, and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands. We urge everyone to remain peaceful.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that it, rather than the FBI, will investigate the shooting. But, as Alex Witt of MS NOW noted, DHS had already issued a statement about the shooting, which falsely asserted that Pretti had “approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun” and that he “violently resisted” as “officers attempted to disarm” him. The statement continued that “an agent fired defensive shots” and added that Pretti “also had 2 magazines and no ID—this looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.”

“So,” Witt noted, “they’re gonna be investigating that which they’ve already issued a summary about…. It would seem that it’s a closed book?”

After repeatedly being exposed as liars over previous accusations against those they have shot, the Department of Homeland Security has so little credibility that Witt is not the only journalist calling out the federal agents for lying. Devon Lum of the New York Times wrote: “Videos on social media that were verified by The New York Times contradict the Department of Homeland Security’s account of the fatal shooting of a man by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday morning.

“The Department of Homeland Security said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him.”

But lying to the American people is the only option for the administration when we can, once again, all see what happened with our own eyes. Pretti did have a permit for a concealed handgun and appeared to have carried the gun with him, although witnesses say he never reached for it. Noem doubled down on the lie, saying again: “This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

When the Democratic Party’s social media account posted: “ICE agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis this morning. Get ICE out of Minnesota NOW,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller replied: “A would-be assassin tried to murder federal law enforcement and the official Democrat account sides with the terrorists.” The Democrats’ social media account responded: “You’re a f*cking liar with blood on your hands.”

Miller continued to bang that drum. When Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said that “ICE must leave Minneapolis” and that “Congress should not fund this version of ICE—this is seeking confirmation, chaos, and dystopia,” Miller responded: “An assassin tried to murder federal agents, and this is your response.” When Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar similarly decried the killing, Miller responded: “A domestic terrorist tried to assassinate federal law enforcement, and this is your response? You and the state’s entire Democrat leadership team have been flaming the flames of insurrection for the singular purpose of stopping the deportation of illegals who invaded the country.”

Miller is a white nationalist, who has recommended others read a dystopian novel in which people of color “invade” Europe and destroy “Western civilization.” Those who support immigration are, in the book’s telling, enemies who are abetting an “invasion”—a word Miller relies on—that is destroying the culture of white countries. They are working for the “enemy.”

In the wake of Pretti’s shooting, Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote to Minnesota governor Tim Walz to suggest he could “bring back law and order to Minnesota” if he handed over the state’s voter rolls to the Department of Justice. As Jacob Knutson of Democracy Docket noted, she explicitly tied the administration’s violence in the state to its determination to get its hands on voters’ personal data before the 2026 election. Minnesota has voted for the Democratic candidate running against Trump in the past three presidential elections, but he insists that he really has won the state each time.

As G. Elliott Morris of Strength in Numbers wrote: Republicans could stop this at any time they wanted to. “All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dem[ocrat]s to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump—3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.”

Morris also pointed out that in December, Trump’s approval rating was negative in 40 states, including 10 he won in 2024. That covers 30 seats currently held by Republicans. Pretti’s shooting will likely erode Trump’s support further. Tonight, even right-wing podcaster Tim Pool reacted to Pretti’s killing by noting that it looked as if the agent had disarmed Pretti before the other agents shot him. “I don’t see Trump winning this one,” Pool commented.

The funding bill for DHS is effectively dead in the Senate, as Democrats have said they will not support any more funding for DHS. Tonight, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters: “Senate Democrats will not provide the votes to proceed to the appropriations bill if the DHS funding bill is included.” But the July law the Republicans call the One Big Beautiful Bill Act poured nearly $191 billion into DHS through September 30, 2029, with almost $75 billion going to ICE and $67 billion going to Customs and Border Protection (FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, got just $2.9 billion).

Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) had more to say: “​​What we just saw this morning on the streets of Minneapolis is another outright murder by federal officials. And let me just be clear, those federal ICE officers are absolute cowards. I am a Marine veteran standing here telling you to your face they are unprofessional, pathetic cowards. Because if a Marine, an 18-year-old Marine, did that in Iraq in the middle of a war zone, he would be court martialed because it is murder. And you pathetic little cowards who have to wear face masks because you’re so damn scared, couldn’t even effectively wrestle a guy [to] the ground, so you needed to shoot him? 

This is why ICE needs to be prosecuted. Yeah, I voted to defund it, but ICE, you need to be prosecuted, and Director [Todd] Lyons, who’s running ICE right now, I hope you’re hearing this from this Marine to you. You guys are criminal thugs. You need to be held accountable to law if you think you can enforce it, and you need to be prosecuted right now.”

Just hours after the killing of Alex Pretti, agents pinned U.S. citizen Matthew James Allen to the street while he screamed: “I have done nothing at all. My name is Matthew James…Allen. I’m a United States citizen…. You’re gonna kill me! Is that what you want? You want to kill me? You want to kill me on the street? You’re going to have to f*cking kill me! I have done nothing wrong.” Nearby, his sobbing wife screamed: “Stop please! Stop!! Please!! We were just running away from the gas. That’s all we were doing.”

“We all know the poem,” Blue Missouri executive director Jess Piper wrote, “and there is no shade of white that will save you from this murderous regime.” 

Susan and Michael Pretti, the parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, issued a statement:

“We are heartbroken but also very angry,” they said.

“Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact.”

“I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand, and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed.”

“Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.”

—Heather Cox Richardson

 

In Solidarity

 

Since we sent the below email yesterday, federal agents have killed another person in Minneapolis. The video of them tackling 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti to the ground before opening fire is absolutely horrific. Everything about ICE and Border Patrol’s brutal invasion of our communities is horrific.  It is increasingly clear that stripping the Department of Homeland Security down to the studs -- ICE, Border Patrol, all of it -- is the minimum we must do when we regain power. But we can’t afford to wait that long to rein in these agencies. Senators have a choice next week to vote for a DHS funding bill that gives ICE and Border Patrol more money to brutalize our neighbors or to say ENOUGH. We must demand our senators -- especially our Democratic senators -- refuse to give ICE and Border Patrol one more penny of taxpayer money or vote for any funding bill that doesn’t get these thugs the &$*# out of our cities.  Since senate offices are closed today, we’re asking you to email your senators and demand they use their vote this week to rein in ICE and CBP death squads. Then make a call. If your senators’ voicemails are full, call back on Monday. We can’t go on like this. It’s time for our leaders to step up and protect their constituents. And if they won’t, we’re going to elect new leaders.  In mourning and solidarity,  Indivisible Team ---- ORIGINAL MESSAGE ---- ICE is terrorizing our communities, violating our constitutional rights, and killing innocent people -- and the House just voted to give them more money. Yesterday, the House passed a bill to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for ICE. That increase comes with no meaningful restrictions or accountability measures to rein in ICE and Border Patrol. We’re demanding Congress use the appropriations process to end ICE and Border Patrol’s lawlessness. This bill doesn’t just fall short -- it increases the funding for their brutality. But this fight isn’t over.  The Senate will vote on the DHS appropriations bill next week -- and it cannot pass without Democratic votes. If you’re ready to take action, call your senators and demand they vote no on increased funding for ICE and Border Patrol. Call Your Senators >>   Everything wrong with the DHS funding bill ❌ The bill increases funding for ICE. If this bill passes, ICE will receive $400 million more for detention and $370 million more for its enforcement budget compared to last year. That’s on top of the $170 billion allocated by Trump’s Big Ugly Bill for his mass deportation machine. ICE is using taxpayer dollars to kill people, invade homes without warrants, and threaten peaceful protestors. The last thing we should be doing is giving them more money to enable their cruelty.  ❌ The reforms included in the bill are completely inadequate. The bill allocates funding for body cameras, officer training, and the DHS Inspector General’s Office, but these measures fall far short of what we need to actually protect our communities. We’ve already seen what ICE thugs are willing to do on camera -- one filmed the killing of Renee Good on his own cellphone. And there’s no reason to think that giving the Trump regime more money to investigate itself will stop the violence unfolding in our streets.  ❌ Actual restrictions on ICE were left out. Congress can end Border Patrol deployments to our cities; restrict ICE and Border Patrol’s dragnet operations, racial profiling, and mass surveillance; and prevent these agencies from stealing funds from other programs to run their mass deportation machine. All of these provisions would have real impact on the ground, but none of them were included in this bill.  There’s still time to act The DHS funding bill will move to the Senate where we expect a vote next week. Reminder: the bill needs 60 votes to pass, which means Democrats have real leverage here. But they won’t use it unless we force them to.  Atrociously, 7 House Democrats already voted yes on this bill (list here), and Chuck Schumer is not publicly whipping Senate Democrats to unify in opposition. With a vote on this bill coming next week, we need to act fast and be loud:  1️⃣ Call your senators today and demand they vote no on the DHS funding bill. After you call, share our script with your family and friends and encourage them to call too.  2️⃣ Email your senators in opposition to more ICE funding. Calls are more effective than emails, but if you are unable to call or want to call and email, we make it easy to reach your senators instantly.  In solidarity, Indivisible Team