When the government kills with impunity, silence is complicity
Seventeen days. Seventeen days after Minneapolis and the world watched U.S. citizen, poet and mother Renée Nicole Good be killed in cold blood by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, a second American, intensive care nurse and dog lover Alex Jeffrey Pretti, lay dead in the street, executed by another ICE officer from the very government sworn to protect us.
Pretti wasn’t a gang member. He wasn’t a violent extremist. He wasn’t even an undocumented immigrant on their target list. The 37-year-old was a veteran caregiver at the Minneapolis VA hospital — a man who spent his life saving lives, not threatening them. But this administration, in its frantic scramble to justify bloodshed, has labeled him a “terrorist” and a credible threat, just like they did with Good.
And they’re asking us to believe them instead of our own eyes.
Because the videos that everybody has seen tell a different story. Multiple camera angles show Pretti holding a phone, not a gun, before federal agents pepper-spray him, tackle him, and ultimately fire the shots that killed him. Ten shots or more. He was on his knees. His phone still in his hand. And he was armed, with a licensed gun he was allowed to carry, but it was holstered. Pretti had simply come to the aid of a woman that ICE agents were shoving. His last act was to protect someone.
His family’s statement cuts through the gaslighting with brutal clarity:
“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 has 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. Thank you.”
And still, the White House doubles down. Still, the Department of Homeland Security claims self-defense where there is none. Still, the president blames “Democrat chaos” for two American deaths at the hands of his own agents, even as local and state 
officials are locked out of evidence and investigations.
This isn’t incompetence. It isn’t a mistake. It’s a political operation — a surge of federal force explicitly deployed into a major U.S. city in a blue state that Donald Trump has lost three times. Because if anyone thought this was about illegal immigration, think again. Texas has between 1.6 and 2 million undocumented immigrants. Florida has another 1.6 million. Minnesota? An estimated 133,000 illegal immigrants across the entire state.
So this “major enforcement operation” is really about punishing Minnesotans who didn’t vote for him and Gov. Tim Walz, who was on the ticket as VP with Kamala Harris in 2024.
And when the predictable consequence is the killing of citizens, the reflex is not accountability but denial.
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This is the Trump administration’s new normal: If your loved one is shot by ICE, call it self-defense. If videos contradict the official line, insist the videos are misinterpreted. If the public is outraged, blame the outrage on “paid agitators.”
And when communities rise up — demanding ICE leave, calling for justice, mourning at makeshift memorials — the response from power isn’t meaningful reform. It’s spin and stonewalling.
And it’s the eroding what little trust we had left in government narratives. It’s a federal government that tells us not to believe what we watched with our own eyes. That insists video evidence is wrong and that its own version — even when contradicted — should be accepted without question.
That’s not patriotism. That’s gaslighting on a national scale.
Seventeen days. That’s the time between the killing of Renée Good and the killing of Alex Pettri. Seventeen days between two 
American citizens dying at the hands of federal agents. And in both cases, the response from Washington has been the same: deny, deflect, and dare the public not to believe its own eyes.
They call it law enforcement, but everyone sees what it really is: a murderous cover-up.
Read related: For the big hypocrite Donald Trump, there are two kinds of protesters
Is this the beginning of the end of this lying, treacherous, unethical, criminal administration? Many people said LA was the start of the civil war to come. Then it was Chicago. Now Minnesota, where military troops and National Guard have been put on alert amid widespread demonstrations against ICE Gestapo tactics and fascism (read: our current government). Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would enable troops to conduct searches, seizures, and arrests, potentially bypassing local law enforcement and state authority (like they’re not doing that already). The Black Panthers are increasingly calling for folks to arm themselves.
But the real threat to our republic isn’t whether Americans take up arms against one another — although that it not a wild notion anymore — it’s whether citizens can ever believe their government again. Because when the powerful can kill without accountability and lie without consequence, the social contract that binds us breaks down far faster than any riot in the streets.
And we — the watchers, the recorders, the ones with smartphones and memories — we know the truth.
We saw the videos. We saw the truth. And we are not fooled.
So what happens now?
This moment demands more than perfunctory press releases and generic expressions of concern. The American people — Black, Brown, immigrant, working, professional — have seen two citizens killed by agents of their own government in less than three weeks. They have seen official statements that diverge from recorded evidence. They have seen federal agency spokespeople insist we not believe what we all saw on video.
In the coming days, Congress must make clear that this pattern of impunity and narrative control will not stand. Lawmakers should demand independent, unfiltered investigations with subpoena power; they should insist that local and state authorities be granted access to all evidence, unredacted and without delay. They should hold hearings not just on the specifics of these killings, but on the policies that allowed unaccountable use of force to escalate in the first place.
More than that, Congress should attach real reforms to any funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security and its agencies — reforms that tighten oversight, clarify rules of engagement, and ensure that federal officers cannot hide behind ambiguity or qualified immunity when they take a life. If meaningful accountability is not part of the bargain, then funding becomes complicity.
And here at home, our representatives — Democrats and Republicans alike — should voice clearly what too many in Washington have so far declined to say: that no administration, regardless of party, is above scrutiny, and that lawmakers swore an oath to 
protect citizens, not defend agencies from accountability.
Two days later, we have no statement from any of our local legislators — no Congress member or local elected leader — about the shooting or the administration’s lies. Can anybody imagine Carlos Gimenez or Maria Elvira Salazar or Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia staying quiet if a MAGA protestor with a licensed, registered gun in his holster was shot by a federal agent four years ago? But they’re too busy talking about local businesses who deal with Cuba and the UM championship game.
Salazar has used it to promote her Dignity Act, which is more about indentured servitude than it is about any dignity.
Read related: Maria Elvira Salazar’s ‘Dignity Act’ is about zero dignity and all a big act
Not even Miami-Dade Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis, who thinks she is Kevin Cabrera and issues statements on all the national news, said a word one way or another.
Didn’t the Republicans go out of their way to defend Kyle Rittenhouse, who actually showed up at a protest to “protect ,businesses” and shot three people, two of them fatally? So now it’s wrong to be armed at a protest? Just trying to keep up, guys.
The country should not have to wait for the next tragedy — or a change in administration — to see justice for the last. The public has seen enough to know when a government answers its own questions instead of answering to the people. Now it is up to Congress to act — not with timid statements, but with legislation and oversight worthy of its constitutional duty.
This kind of independent, government watchdog reporting is crucial to transparency and democracy. And more so every day. Help shine a light on the darker corners of our community with a contribution to Political Cortadito. Click here. Ladra thanks you for your support.
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”Trump will go after Cubans soon. Hilarious, since Cubans voted for Trump. Florida voted for Trump. Do Trump voters know who picks crops? And builds homes? And cleans our properties?”
I hope ICE hits Hialeah so all those who voted for Trump but do not speak English are afraid to leave their homes and see how it feels to live in Minn but stopped by ICE due to skin complexion .
I disagree with you on one thing which is deportations have opened up jobs for Citizens in hospitality , cleaning women , etc which is great but deporting in agriculture / farming is insane .
Trump might liberate Cuba which many here long to see ( I do not give a damn about Latin America ) but the tsunami who will then pour into Miami is going to be real bad .
Unlike Venezuela Cuba does have the money to rebuild , etc and now what ?
Sure Trump / Rubio will put in a right wing crook as opposed to left wing crooks which have run Cuba but it will take decades just to get rebuilding and it WILL cost the USA a grotesque amount of money in loans ( pfffffftt ) .
The stealing alone will be a horror as if Miami Cuban politicos any better .
I am a MTG type ” Democrat” I do not want Chicken Hawk Trump getting involved all over the World and as you know China is benefitting the most under Trump.
I have a friend in UK , Australia who I met serving over seas and their countries are doing more and more business with China due to Trump.
”Also, Rittenhouse was being beaten by several individuals one with a skateboard even, he had no choice but to defend himself.”
Yes he had no choice as he was attacked but he went LOOKING for problems but the ICU Nurse never reached for his holstered weapon , in fact they removed his gun than murdered him .
He had a legal right to carry and no limit on rounds so that is another Miller / Noem type distraction .
ICE sprays / grabbed him when he tried to help the woman and then kill him .
”Dear Jose, I am so sick of this “why no protests when Obama deported” shit”
Ladra ,
This is do agree with Republicans because whether Obama was deporting felons or not and from what I understand going by that Hispanic reporter who called him deporter and Chief he was deporting more then felons .
I myself agree with the deportations but find ICE to have become untrained , clueless , lost trash . Armed men who hide their identity is no good .
Biden / Harris did not do a thing but relocate brigades of illegal’s to mostly low income areas and as someone who works at night till am sometimes 6 am , the entitlement just reckless behavior by enough of them was obscene .
I base this on countless car accidents due to drunk driving just insane behavior just ask any cop who works pm to am .
What is the average of 2 accidents by drunk entitled locals on club nights was even 12 accidents I counted one night and as I would chat with police who would tell me the illegal would be arrested for being drunk but they knew in time get out disappear .
Doral was a Mecca of illegals and though I held my nose and voted for Kamala because after Jan.6 NO WAY I was voting for Trump plus find Trump a spoiled child I was glad he sealed border and the INITIAL ICE was great now a disaster .
I think you are in Coral Gables ?
Ask anyone in Doral or SweetWater if deportations were not seriously needed but as usual Trump and his team of inept loyalist screw things up so now it has become a disaster .
Again you are correct as far as Florida and Texas to this day have the most illegals .
Wow Ladra, really, seriously… Seems more emotion than fact based to me. That caregiver and dog lover you referenced went into the middle of the street and absolutely and indisputably intervened in a law enforcement operation, while working in conjunction with a group actively targeting and disrupting ICE operations, and every responsible law-abiding gun owner will tell you that’s just a bad recipe and it ended as most reasonable gun owners would assume. He was on his knees violently resisting arrest as they tried to get his arms behind his back and when one agent yelled gun another shot him when he broke loose and an agent is heard asking afterwards where’s the gun, so the confusion and his behavior clearly led to the outcome. He acted irresponsibly and contrary to how he should have behaved especially while carrying a firearm and the result was not all that surprising. Also, Rittenhouse was being beaten by several individuals one with a skateboard even, he had no choice but to defend himself. You should get your facts straight when making such impactful statements.
Trump will soon tell ICE and the Border Patrol to grab Cubans and other brown skinned people.
Trump will go after Cubans soon. Hilarious, since Cubans voted for Trump. Florida voted for Trump. Do Trump voters know who picks crops? And builds homes? And cleans our properties?
ICE’s stated (and b.s.) goal is to protect Americans from child sex traffickers. Which is why they are refusing to release the files on the largest child sex trafficking ring in American history. Hypocrites!
Why would anyone compare this to Charlie Kirk? These people were murdered by the Federal Government. What happened to your Don’t Tread on Me flag? Read your history and stop drinking the Kool-Aid.
“Do not do anything stupid!”. And where was the outrage when nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal alien while simply jogging?!
The HUGE difference has always been when caught they go to jail or death penalty but those with Badges OFTEN get a free pass .
”Two citizens who were interfering, not peacefully protesting, with the job of armed law enforcement officers. Sadly, they lost their lives”
One you can make an argument the agent thought she was going to run him over but in his case it was murder and last time I looked Citizens have every right to protest , he was not interfering. They grabbed him .
They are not paid protestors but Fox continues with that BS I do not disagree with you on this —
Why aren’t they protesting the billions of dollars in fraud in their state? Why didn’t they protest when Obama aggressively deported over 3 million immigrants?
Dear Jose, I am so sick of this “why no protests when Obama deported” shit. There were LOTS of protests. I protested loudly. I lost a job at Voxxi News as Political Editor because I consistently called out the Obama Administration’s hypocrisy. (And they were very progressive).
Now, let me tell you why it’s different and why this has ended in such passionate protest. Obama deported more than 2.5 million people from 2009 to 2016 — a seven-year span. More than any other U.S. president. Ever. But the policy then was focused on “felons not families” and targeted criminals. They did not indiscriminately take away legal protection status to create more illegal immigrants. There were no masked armed agents pulling people who spoke Spanish off the street. There were no car windows broken so people could get dragged out. There were no illegal searches and entry. There were no U.S. citizens shot dead on the street. There were no makeshift concentration camps erected.
You know what there was? Process. Warrants.
Big difference.
Also, about the billions of dollars in fraud… when is the administration going to go after the Cuban American community for the billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid fraud that have been committed here? When are we going to protest that?
Love, Ladra
The poor poet mother who had lost custody of 2 of her children because of abuse with cigarette burns and dropped her third child off to then go drive out of state to stalk Federal officers and try to murder one with her vehicle. My message to ICE, well done, “Good” riddance!
And as for the nurse Alex, he just went to protest peacefully with 30 rounds of ammunition? Even his own parents were concerned enough about his tendencies to tell him before the protest “Do not do anything stupid!”. And where was the outrage when nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal alien while simply jogging?!
Today’s news of Gov Waltz being glad Tom Holman is now coming to MN says a lot!!
GOOD’S STUPIDITY of Backing Up W/ Door Open Try To Hit Agents on Right Side of Car and Them Going Forward W/ Agent in Front That Was Trying To Use The car as a WEAPON , First Bullet Hole True Lower side of Windshield !
Other Have Not had a Chance To Look ?
I agree, Alberto Santos, I agree!
Two citizens who were interfering, not peacefully protesting, with the job of armed law enforcement officers. Sadly, they lost their lives. Why aren’t they protesting the billions of dollars in fraud in their state? Why didn’t they protest when Obama aggressively deported over 3 million immigrants? It seems to me these organized and well funded protests are just because they don’t like Trump.
” Texas has between 1.6 and 2 million undocumented immigrants. Florida has another 1.6 million. Minnesota? An estimated 133,000 illegal immigrants across the entire state.”
Florida is a sanctuary state regardless of the BS do nothing DeSantis spews out and living in Doral I see it .
I support deportations which have said in other posts but ICE has become a total disaster which can not be trusted by anyone .
Trump beat Harris IMO due to border as Biden / Harris was a free for all and he sealed border much to his credit , think first 3 months he was in office ICE hit Doral but pros not the mierda you now have thanks to Trump .
Add to that he himself throws them under the bus by announcing over and over where they will be like he wants a reaction , they seem lost , no direction just masked armed thugs who have no idea what to do standing around .
I don’t recall all these feelings when ICE was raiding homes and businesses, leaving 68 dead in their custody, when the record breaking deportations and child separations were taking place during the Barrack era. Interesting…and yes, please keep your reporting to local politics so any of us don’t cancel our subscriptions.
”The blood of Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Riley, victims of illegal aliens, choke your complaint!”
To be murdered by illegals who will pay for it and murdered by government officials ( bad enough they hide their identity ) is not same but you always deflect .
”Cubans and Carlos Gimenez and Marco Rubio and Francis Suarez love Trump”
The MAJORITY of Cubans in Miami will always vote for the most unethical , immoral cowardly lying crook there is which is why this Cuban votes against the majority .
Where was your outrage when Obama deported 3.1 million criminal illegal aliens and earned the nickname “Deporter-in-Chief”?!?!
Hypocrites!!!
Since Ladra is now covering national events, why did she not write about the cold blooded assassination of Charlie Kirk ? ( who, by the way, was also murdered on camera ).
Ladra: The blood of Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Riley, victims of illegal aliens, choke your complaint!
We have lost our sense of humanity. May God have mercy on us.
Cubans and Carlos Gimenez and Marco Rubio and Francis Suarez love Trump. Fraudster Rick Scott loves Trump. Florida voted for Trump. Chaos was predictable. Trump will cause more innocent Americans to be killed. Watch grifter Francis Suarez take a job with Trump.
Stick to local politics, please. It seems to me that’s the only thing you can manage without being biased.
Why were there so many ICE agents in downtown Minneapolis, armed and in riot gear? Their purported mission is to apprehend and deport illegal violent criminals. The people they seek aren’t hanging out in downtown Minneapolis, especially during mass protests. Since ICE had no business being there, it’s obvious that their intent was to escalate tensions and cause trouble. Unfortunately, they succeeded in the worst possible way. Intent is a cornerstone of criminal prosecutions. Charges should be filed not only against the agents who attacked and killed Alex Pretti but also against those in the management chain who ordered the agents to be there, where they had no mission-oriented reason to be.
What makes this moment so dangerous isn’t just the loss of two lives — it’s the insistence that we abandon our own eyes and accept an official narrative that collapses under basic scrutiny. Video evidence used to be the standard that held power to account; now it’s treated as an inconvenience to be explained away. That inversion should terrify anyone who still believes in the rule of law.
When federal agencies investigate themselves, control the evidence, and immediately frame the victims as threats, accountability becomes impossible by design. That’s not law enforcement — it’s narrative management. And history tells us that when the state claims the exclusive right to define “truth” after killing its own citizens, the damage spreads far beyond any single case.
Congress exists precisely for moments like this. Oversight is not partisan, and accountability is not anti-law-enforcement. If elected officials remain silent while citizens are killed and the record is rewritten in real time, they are not neutral — they are complicit. A government that demands trust while refusing transparency is one that has forfeited its moral authority.
Believing democracy means believing that no badge, no agency, and no administration is above scrutiny. If that principle fails here, it fails everywhere.