LOS ANGELES (OC).–Two lethal incidents in Minneapolis at the hands to Immigration Customs Enforcement [ICE] involving 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good Jan. 7 and 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti in two weeks exposes undeniable culpability by ICE. In both instances, ICE officials, led by 54-year-old Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem, give the same excuse, that the suspects threatened ICE agents prompting draconic defense actions. When it came to Renee Good, ICE officials accused her of weaponizing her vehicle threatening an ICE agent who shot her in the head. When ICE agents got into a violent tussle with Pretti Jan. 24, they justified shooting him in the head because he possessed a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Video tape in both Good and Pretti’s case offer nothing compelling to justify ICE using lethal force, against two bystanders in two weeks.
ICE officials justified the officer-involved-shootings due to self-defense by the agents in the field, something contradicted by video evidence seen by millions of citizens. ICE said that Pretti “approached U.S. Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun” prompting agents at the scene to take extreme defensive actions. “ICE officials said “the suspect violently resisted,” something not verified in published video clips. Noem defended the agents calling the incident “defensive.” “The officers attempted to disarm this individual but the armed suspect reacted violently,” Noem insisted. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino said that Pretti tried to do “maximum damage” and “massacre law enforcement.” Video evidence does not show Pretti brandishing his weapon before the fracas resulting in Pretti getting shot. Video from multiple sources give an ambiguous picture.
Video shows Pretti stepping between federal agents and a woman who was apparently pushed to the ground. Agents then pepper-sprayed Pretti in the face before he’s pepper-strayed and gang tackles, eventually resulting in his shooting. Why Pretti carried a loaded gun into a confrontation with federal agents is anyone’s guess. Whatever various video show, there’s certainly room for interpretation, when liberals side with accounts that bac the New York Time and Washington Post, typically refuting the Trump’s government. So, when it comes to taking sides, there’s no questions that Democrats and the fake news side with accounts that show ICE agents engaged in excessive force. Whether liberal or conservative, the fact remains that ICE should not have two lethal force incidents in two weeks. Whatever goes wrong on the streets, it shouldn’t be with federal agents.
President Barck Obama was the first to tell all Americans the two incidents should be “a wake-up call to all Americans,” suggesting that ICE officials are running amok on the streets. Judging by the way ICE hired its personnel rapidly to fill agent positions. Two lethal incidents in two weeks cannot be dismissed but must be examined carefully as incompetent policing by under-trained border patrol agents. Unless ICE agents are dealing with heavily armed foreign gang members, no American citizens should be dying in the streets because citizens choose to protest the presence of heavy-handed federal tactics. Citzens have a right to protest what they see as unconstitutional actions by federal authorities. Americans generally back ICE’s attempts go after know criminals that threaten U.S. citizens and communities. ICE has undermined Trump’s immigration policy.
Whatever various videos show about what really happened Jan. 7 and Jan. 24 with ICE killings of Good and Pretti, federal agents crossed a dangerous line killing American citizens protesting on American streets. Excusing ICE officials sounds like a feeble excuse for the government for justifying the entirely unnecessary killings. Self-defnse is not excuse for an armed law enforcement officials, whether local, state or federal. All law enforcement agencies must follow the same rules of engagement when it comes to the use of deadly force. Deadly force must always be a last resort to law enforcement officials, not something taken so lightly. If the video doesn’t show a direct threat to federal agents, it doesn’t mean their lives were not threatened. However much in danger, federal agents must find alternative ways to contain crowds that resort to lethal force.
Democrats and the fake news found a new cause célèbre to attack the Trump administration before the 2026 Midterm elections. ICE behavior fits nicely into the Democrat strategy accusing Trump of fascism and dictatorship, the same exact strategy used by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Democrats and the fake news say the videos don’t show Alex Fretti brandishing his 8 mm handgun. That doesn’t mean that he didn’t resist arrest or pull out his weapon for federal agents to see. Somehow federal agents knew he possessed a 9 mm semiautomatic gun. Democrats and the fake news don’t ask why Fretti was carrying his gun at a protest near federal officials. Whether or not it was legal for Fretti to cary, he had to know the risks of carrying a weapon around federal officials. That still doesn’t excuse federal agents from using lethal force on protesters.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
