Tag: Pretti

Kristi Noem, We the People Do Not Believe Your Lies and Partisan Talking Points

On Saturday, another person was killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The victim was 37 year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the VA hospital in the city. Almost immediately, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, came out with several statements that defended the actions of the ICE agents even before an investigation had taken place. She, and top DHS officials, claimed that the ICE agents acted in “self-defense”, that the victim was a “domestic terrorist”, that the victim wanted to cause “massive damage” on ICE agents because he was “brandishing an AR 15 gun”, etc. We are quite aware of the practice of partisan talking points that are being committed in many countries by politicians of various ideologies. The script is all too common: “My side is always right and is completely innocent. The other side is always wrong. We know the evil intentions of the other side. We need to get out our statements early so that we can control the narrative, even before an investigation takes place.” A biNoemg problem exists when objective evidence surfaces that contradicts the partisan talking points. In  this situation, the evidence (videos, witness testimony, government documents) includes the following;

  1. There is no video of the victim brandishing a gun of any type;
  2. Mr. Pretti had a permit to carry a gun which is legal in Minnesota according to the Second Amendment and state law;
  3. That gun was removed by the ICE agents;
  4. An ICE agent then fired several shots at close range into Pretti causing his death;
  5. There is no evidence of Pretti assaulting any agent; there is video evidence of Pretti helping a woman who had been shoved to the ground by ICE agents.

Noem made several false statements and, at the very least, should be removed from her DHS position until a fair investigation can determine whether she and other officials committed criminal actions.

To help restore public trust, the ICE agents should immediately be removed from the streets of Minneapolis. Let the city’s police force restore public safety.