ICE Kills. . . Again

ICE executed a 37 year old VA nurse.

I’m not quite sure what to say. Words won’t save us. And yet tonight, it feels important to get something down. To mark this tragic moment in our nation’s history. To record what we have seen. To speak plainly and directly. So here it is:

• Saturday morning, Alex Pretti was observing ICE agents, using his phone to record their actions on a public street.

• An ICE agent confronted Alex and a woman on the sidewalk, pepper-spraying them in the face.

• Alex put his body between the ICE agent and the woman.

• More ICE agents swarmed Alex, slamming him to the ground and beginning to beat him. Multiple video angles show Alex on the ground, being repeatedly punched in the head.

• Allegedly, one ICE agent pistol-whipped him while he was on the ground.

• An agent shoots Alex point-blank; other agents begin to shoot Alex.

• Alex’s body lay motionless on the street.

• He was shortly pronounced dead.

A horrific and violent killing in the streets of an American city. But that’s not all:

• Some of the ICE agents involved attempted to flee the scene.

• The agents attempted to deny local law enforcement access to the scene.

• And then the Trump administration and DHS lied about what happened.

DHS’s official statement, repeated by Greg Bovino himself, states that “ an individual approached US Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun.”

This is a lie.

Multiple videos show ICE agents approaching Alex Pretti. There is no video evidence showing Alex Pretti holding a weapon. In fact, right before his execution, videos show one ICE agent disarming Pretti—pulling the gun from his holster, not his hands.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist” determined to kill ICE agents. This is absurd. There is no video evidence to suggest that Pretti acted violently or aggressively toward any of the agents on the scene.

The government killed a citizen in plain sight and lied about it afterward.

And this comes just weeks after another federal agent–involved shooting in Minneapolis, when ICE officers killed Renee Good and misrepresented what happened. The response from DHS to that earlier fatal encounter was not to step back, reassess, or de-escalate; instead, they doubled down—sending more agents into Minneapolis and broadening their operations into Maine.

What happened to Alex Pretti was not a mistake or a misunderstanding. It was a deliberate choice. A reflection of an administration’s strategy that treats confrontation as policy and uses overwhelming force against Americans in their own communities.

Now what?

We need to be clear-eyed about what is happening in this country. The federal government no longer feels obligated to follow our laws. They cannot be believed or trusted to follow the Constitution.

They are following a might-is-right agenda and will do whatever they think they can get away with.

We are at an inflection point in our country. What happens after this, and how we respond, will determine which path we take.

There is a major debate in Democratic circles about funding the government. Almost immediately, Senate Democrats signaled they would block any funding bill that includes money for ICE. That is good—but wholly insufficient.

Elected Democrats need to use every lever of power they have to hold ICE and DHS accountable. Gov. Walz must activate the National Guard in his state to protect his citizens. Attorney General Keith Ellison must investigate and press charges against the ICE agents involved. Other Democratic governors must take similar actions.

These aren’t escalatory actions. They are the proper response required.

As for us:

First, we must recognize and appreciate the valor and patriotism of the people in Minneapolis. They are risking their lives so we know what is happening. I’m in awe of them.

Second, don’t tolerate gaslighting or false equivalencies. The situation is clear. Anyone in public life who can’t call this what it is—or bends over backward to excuse it or diminish it—should be ridiculed, shamed, and eventually ignored.

Third, don’t give in to despair. That is what they want. They win when we give up. But as long as we hold on to our values, protect our neighbors, speak up when we can, stand up when called to, and resist this oppressive regime, they cannot defeat us.

They win when we stop caring. They win when we lose hope. They win when we fall into the trap of self-preservation.

Speak up. Be clear-eyed. Call this what it is.

Our government is killing our citizens and lying to us about it. I don’t care if you say it online, to your friends, or even just in the mirror—but don’t let their lies drown out the truth.