Remember Minneapolis

On the morning of January 24, 2026, Minnesota was not expecting another death. Just over two weeks prior, mother of three Renée Good dropped off her six-year old at school and never returned home alive. That January 7th, upon conflicting orders from ICE officers following a traffic stop, agent Jonathan Ross shot Good three times, with one bullet hitting the head, one hitting her torso, and the third hitting her left forearm. Good died at approximately 9:37 a.m. from blood loss and internal damage, and was confirmed unresponsive later at 9:42 a.m. From there, everything unfolded very quickly in Minneapolis and on the national scale, and the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Kristi Noem insisted that they had done nothing wrong. In fact, they accused Renée Good of ignoring orders and claimed she was a domestic terrorist, an unfounded claim. Fast forward to January 24th, and a similar concerning incident occurred. Alex Pretti, a 37-year old intensive care nurse who worked at the nearby VA’s hospital, was protesting Operation Metro Surge as part of the Trump Administration’s broader crackdown on illegal immigration. Videos showed that at approximately 9:00 a.m., federal agents tackled a woman to the ground who stood right next to Pretti, and after intervening to help her, those same agents pinned him to the ground and pepper-sprayed before two federal officers, Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, proceeded to shoot him 10 times in the head, neck, back and chest during a span of under five seconds. The response garnered widespread outrage from the public, including some Republicans, but the DHS and administration remained defiant and insisted there was some rationale behind the actions. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem responded by claiming the incident was a “domestic terrorist attack”, and that Pretti was brandishing a weapon that looked like a gun. Stephen Miller, Trump’s Senior Presidential Adviser, labeled Alex Pretti as a “would-be assassin” and repeated false accusations that he was a terrorist. The only problem is, we live in 2026 and most people have cellphones. So, naturally, witnesses to the murder filmed the incident and posted it online. Some videos went viral and were used as evidence against the government’s statements. In reality, Pretti was not in possession of a 9mm handgun, did not violently resist the officers, but rather lay on the ground and held a phone in his hand. The criticisms and evidence grew so insurmountable that Noem later went on the highly-credible Fox News and argued that her initial review of the situation was limited and reported solely from CBP agents, and that it was “very chaotic”. During a recent hearing, Todd Lyons, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and head of the CBP Rodney S. Scott testified that they were unaware as to where the claims of domestic terrorism originated, and that they never personally provided nor distributed the description of the incident to Kristi Noem. And on February 13, 2026, a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the internal review of the situation was faulty and erroneous, including that the federal agents on the scene did not present truthful accounts. After facing constant pressure, the Department of Justice and ICE have opened an internal investigation into whether the two officers lied under oath when speaking in regards to the encounter.

Those are two deaths, too unnecessary murders of honest human beings who were simply going about their lives before they were callously executed by federal agents under the pretense of national security. In both incidents, there was no danger presented by the victims to the general public, including to the officers, and in both cases violent and excessive force was utilized against them. The result is two deaths, and countless lies by the government over the reasons for their slaying. The Trump administration has no respect for the rule of law nor the sanctity of human life, and their words and actions carry that same message every single day. Every single one of us is subject to this viciousness, not just those who are colored or have funny accents, but also legal American citizens – just like Renée Good and Alex Pretti.