This morning, on a street in Minneapolis, at least seven federal agents tackled and then shot and killed Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse for the local VA hospital.
I live in Minneapolis, and last night I went to bed extremely proud of my state for how we took on dangerously frigid conditions to cry out against ICE’s inhumane presence here. If not for my medical procedure, it was very much a moment I wanted to be a part of. This morning I woke up to the most nauseating video I could imagine, as ICE gunned down another civilian. I never believe we’ve hit rock bottom, but I keep finding new levels of rage within me I didn’t even know I was capable of producing.
The DOJ is claiming this was self defense, when this was so clearly murder. The party that has defended gun rights to death, blamed a conceal and carry permit holder for having a gun he never pulled out. Trump followers continue supporting ICE, making light of his murder and contradicting everything clearly on video. I know there’s always the inclination to say, “when will enough be enough”, “when will they stop this”, etc. I cannot stress this enough, just ignore MAGA. Ignore every hateful comment, every stupid rationale, every attempt at trolling. They’re a lost cause, and nothing is changing their opinion. Change is not reliant on seeing eye to eye. Every effort needs to be placed on being laser focused on getting ICE out of our state, and holding this administration responsible. Every ounce of energy that you invest wondering why people are like this, or changing their opinion is wasted. It’s been 10 years of this garbage, it’s rapidly getting worse and his base is unmoved. They don’t deserve acknowledgment, and we don’t need them to demand change.
I can’t speak for everyone here in Minnesota, but I promise you many of us here especially in the cities are being put through Hell. We can’t be the battleground for the entire country. You either believe what you see, or believe what you’re told. Anyone still with a clear eyed view of the world needs to be a participant in making this stop. If we can stand up in -22 degree weather, everyone can.
Daniel -- Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse with Shanna Bellows ( Sec.of State/Maine) spoke to your ending.
" No matter where we live, we have a role to play. We can't fall into despair and
hopelessness. We have to fight. We have to stand up. We have to make people aware."
Shanna: " This is our country. They are a minority. They're a violent minority. But we, the people need to rise up and take our Constitution back and protect our neighbors in this moment."
HCR reminds us to be peaceful in our protests and actions. As hard as that may be, Heather speaks with the wisdom of a historian. And today, you could feel her pain - the pain and grief we are all feeling tonight...
When a country is run by an utterly corrupt, evil, power mad fascist and has surrounded himself with equally evil corrupt bigots there are predictable outcomes. Xenophobic madmen turn on powerless immigrant populations and terrorize them as a distraction while they steal from all of us. When an opposition arises, some people need to be randomly murdered. The ancient Chinese called this strategy "Kill the rooster to frighten the monkey"(杀鸡儆猴) or "make an example of weak victims to frighten bigger threats." And so it goes. JVL at the Bulwark rightly said today, "Killing Alex Jeffrey Pretti was the Trump administration’s policy." Our deluded "leadership":seems to believe can be so easily intimidated. We won't. They are few and we, who believe in America, are millions and millions. Let's get out and make "good trouble". They don't stand a chance.
Thank you, Merrill, a much needed pep talk! Time to listen to my “anthem” again (have posted it here before as a “boost” to share)— Jackson Browne’s “Til I Go Down” (and yeah, I listened to the whole thing before I did the cut ‘n paste): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmzimxfqgfw
Yes, Michele, HCR’s grief was palpable…had my tears rolling yet again listening to her. It’s almost as if I can’t believe my eyes (is this real?)…and then to hear from this Admin “don’t believe your eyes, we will tell you what’s real”. Where the hell am I????
It's like we have gone down a rabbit hole filled with dark foreboding, evil intents, lawless killings, and massacres of the spirit...but with resilience and perseverance, and solidarity we will keep working to rid ourselves of this tyranny...
And alarming, too, Michele, is that ‘Rump is just the carving on the prow of the ship…the ship being those in command behind the scenes. Me thinks they will find they’ve gotten, as they say, “too big for their britches”. Come on comeuppance!!!!
Yes, we have to fight. And, as Heather posted, Minnesota AG Keith Elision went to court to stop the Trump Administration's & CPB's destruction of evidence.
But, Good Midnight News MN time.
Per NBC NEWS, Gary Grumback & Dennis Romero,18 minutes after Midnight 1/25/26, a Federal Judge in in Minnesota has issued an order that " ... blocked the Trump Administration from destroying or altering the evidence" that related to the fatal shooting of Pretti.
This order goes well beyond preserving the CRIME SCENE & includes preserving collected shell casings & recovered any bullets, valuable evidence in an official autopsy.
Chicago Indivisible has called a rally for Sunday at 1 pm at Wells and Michigan. They say,
Today, we witnessed yet another murder by ICE and Border Patrol. This was the latest in escalating violence that has led to - first the murders of Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter and Renee Nicole Macklin Good - and now the murder of Alex Pretti. All because the community is standing up to the kidnapping of our neighbors off the street by the Trump regime. All because we won’t stand idly by and allow our country to devolve into tyranny. Join Indivisible Chicago as we take to the streets and demand ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE and an end to the fascist ICE and CBP violence.
CHICAGO: EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO DHS EXECUTION IN MINNEAPOLIS
Indivisible Chicago is supporting the emergency protest that has been called for by CATA (The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda) and CAARPR (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Coalition) in response to the latest murder by ICE and Border Patrol.
We must put an end to the racial profiling, violence, abductions and intentional cruelty that we witnessed in Chicago during the Fall and are seeing at an even greater scale in Minneapolis now. We demand that ICE and CBP get out of ALL communities. We must put a stop to the unconstitutional actions of a wanna-be-king and his regime.
WHEN: Sunday Jan 25 @ 1PM
WHERE: Ida B Wells & Michigan Ave, Chicago
Follow on Instagram
The actions by ICE and CBP first in Chicago and now in Minneapolis are all part of the plan of theTrump regime to create violence and terror in cities across America. We believe that we are reaching a pivotal time and our response matters more now than ever.
No Funding for ICE and CBP
One immediate thing we can do is demand that the Senate refuse to fund ICE.
The House passed an appropriations bill to fund ICE through September 30 by a vote of 220-207. The bill would increase funding to ICE and CBP and give them the ability to expand their war against cities like Chicago and Minneapolis with no accountability. Seven Democrats voted Yes. The bill will now head to the Senate with a vote expected Wednesday. It will require Democratic votes to make the 60 vote threshold to pass, so it’s critical for Dems to be united.
👉 Tell your senators to rein in ICE right now. Congress has to pass the appropriations bill by January 30 to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded, which means Dems have leverage to include provisions that rein in ICE and freeze its budget. Call Senators Durbin and Duckworth and demand that they oppose the House Bill and use their leverage to protect our communities from ICE. Senator Duckworth has announced her opposition to the bill yet that could change so please keep calling her office. (More info here)
Prepare for Further Action
In addition to the violence of ICE and CBP – Trump has threatened to take the further step of sending active duty military troops to support his attacks against our cities by invoking the Insurrection Act. This terror - of which Trump has recently written - is an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring the military to bear on Minneapolis. Once Trump takes this next step, there’s little to stop him from doing the same in Chicago and across America.
That’s why it’s essential we respond immediately and powerfully should Trump invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act we will plan with our partners an immediate response. We are asking that you be prepared for this; we will send an email to this address calling for a rapid response rally and march. Also, we know we must do more to prepare for the return of CBP to Chicago. How powerfully we are able to respond depends on you. Please forward this email to a friend who is ready to take action and ask them to join us at Indivisible Chicago and then join us in the streets.
We should recognize the sexual victimization of terrorized children by the Trumpstein Cult -- let's start calling it what it is -- is the direct ancestor of the terror the MAGAstapo is now unleashing on anyone who refuses to kowtow to the ChristoNazi theocracy. Thus the vital, know-our-enemy relevance of the full text of the Jane Doe lawsuit against Trump and Epstein -- later withdrawn in response to credible death threats against the plaintiff: https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Lawsuit.pdf
Please let us ensure this text is linked early (and therefore prominently) on as many Resistance sites as possible every day until the traitorous regime of ecogenocidal ChristoNazi pedophiles is no more. (I'll do my best to be responsible for this posting, but I am 85 years old and terminally ill, which means others need be ready to pick up the torch on days I am absent and after I am no more.)
Thank you, Daniel Lundquist-Peskorz, for your efforts, and thanks to the multitude of others who joined you in this work. I don’t know whether it will help, but it has to be done, regardless. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My first cousin married an American and they’ve made their home in Minneapolis. In addition, we have very dear family friends - people I’ve known most of my life - from Minnesota.My thoughts are very much with all of them at the moment, as with their fellow Minnesotans. You are a brave, brave people.
Your federal government appears to be making war on you and deploying disinformation (which anyone seeing the videos can see is disinformation). It’s absolutely appalling.
What I don’t understand is why other states aren’t coming to your aid. Why is Minnesota being hung out as a martyr state? Where are all the other Americans?
Sorry, KEM, I was responding to someone who was saying that they were leaving it in the hands of the representatives, which seemed to me highly dubious as a way forward, given how useless your Congress has been. It’s reached the point where it’s up to citizens to organise together, and I am so sorry that all your guardrails are failing. We all thought that checks and balances were real.
But my initial question was about something else: I would like to know why the other blue *states* aren’t coming to the aid of Minnesota. Is it even being discussed in other states?
If a blue state were to support Minnesota in the way you are suggesting, such as through action by its national guard, it would be moments only before Trump declared an open insurrection and ordered military strikes against both states.
Let's be clear, he is going to do that soon enough, but Democrats and democratic governors seem content to wait until Trump is good and ready to invade them to bother resisting this unlawful occupation, insurrection, and the murder of dozens of people.
Case in point is the activation and ongoing training of the 82nd and 11th airborne divisions to prepare to attack and occupy urban environments that is currently ongoing. Trump is making his preparations to invade and occupy American cities so as to invalidate, cancel, contest or usurp the upcoming elections, and the states have so far decided that thier citizens lives are not worth defending in the hopes that von Shittler will allow them the appearance of elections in November.
I have been wondering how my brother is taking the fact that this nurse was wearing a holstered gun. My brother's a libertarian but his big and I guess only political criteria is the NRA line about guns. He believes if everybody had guns or at least the people that wanted to, then everyone would be safe . Although we happen to have 27 firearms in our house, I doubt he has more. But it's just a fake division, like the entire great divide in America.
One of Trump's favorite words is "emergency", and sometimes you have to improvise to meet an urgent situation, but Trump has banged on about immigration for months now, and the actual "emergencies" have all been of the GOP's making.
How about we go back to seeking due process and Constitutional procedures as the best way forward. Was that not why the Revolution was fought, and the Constitution written. No system is perfect, but it was working pretty well until now.
You fought a war of independence that lasted 6-7 years, so the answer to your question is no, before being constitutional you had to fight for the right to be constitutional.
People, listen! We have the right to rebel! Our duty to obey ends when government stops delivering rule of law! It's a right that goes back all the way to feudalism. Read more about the roots of the modern right to rebel at: https://hpschrader.substack.com/p/the-right-to-rebel
I salute you, Daniel. And I salute Minnesota. Old and crippled as I am, I remain a Regular Army veteran, sworn by an oath that has no expiration date to do my best defend the Constitution, and though the most I can do is weaponize my keyboard and utilize the editorial skills of a near lifetime in print journalism, that I shall do as long as I am able.
After all, Loren, “the pen* is mightier than the sword”….do believe that is true in the long run. It takes us all, whatever our contributions may be!☮️
*tho these days may equate to social media & smart phones.
My respect for the people of Minneapolis — a city I once spent a summer in — could not be greater. In the wake of sub-zero temperatures, flash-bang weapons, the presence of out-of-control zombies who resemble an alien attack force, you are THERE. With whistles, cell phone cameras, candles — a front line presence against raging stupidity, cruelty, illegality and tyranny.
“It feels like the dam breaking,” said one demonstrator. From his mouth straight to God’s ears.
How many innocent people have to be murdered by ICE/CBP? How many times does this administration get to lie to our faces about it?
It isn’t just about Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti. It is about every black and brown person that died before them in ICE custody, every refugee and asylum seeker who has been killed after being sent back to what they tried to escape.
It is about every politician who voted for the destruction of democracy.
There is only one way to stop this madness in America—massive peaceful demonstrations during a general strike.
I am feeling for you tonight Daniel, feeling for the family of Alex Pretti, and for all Minnesotans, living in this GOP created warzone. The most devastating part of today’s news for me is the image of Alex Pretti’s wife sobbing from the sidelines, screaming, “Stop, please! Stop!! Please!! We were just running from the gas, that’s all we were doing.” That sound doesn’t leave you. Research shows that around nine people are deeply affected by every death. But when a death is violent—when it’s witnessed, filmed, shared, replayed—the impact spreads so much further. Even people who never saw it in person can feel shaken, distressed, overwhelmed. It's called vicarious trauma. It’s real, and it’s heavy.
And then there’s the GOP bullshit. The defensiveness. The spin. The attempts to minimise what people just watched with their own eyes. That layer makes it almost impossible to process, to grieve, to feel safe.
If you’re feeling affected by this, even if you’re far away, even if you didn’t know him — you are not alone. This kind of violence doesn’t stay contained.
One thing that can help in moments like this is a technique called 'Radical Acceptance' - a mindfulness approach for sitting with what’s unbearable, especially when there’s nothing we can fix or control. It doesn’t mean agreeing with what happened. It just means not fighting reality inside your own nervous system. Here’s a gentle video that explains it beautifully:
Please take care of yourselves. Hold each other. Log off if you need to. This stuff gets into the body, not just the mind. Please know: better days will come.💔
Thank you.this little video is indeed concise and helpful, a good start and a good reminder for those of us already grounded in mindfulness practice..mine began with Thich Nhat Hanh…but I’ve been shaken and wobbly recently. In Maine we , many on many levels, are working to bring light and effective action to protect each other and those we do not yet know. May we and those in other states prevail.
I am grateful for the guidance I often find in the comments! Courage
Kazz, this nation will be—no IS—traumatized by this regime. Many caught flat-footed in disbelief….awareness, fear and horror slowly dawning on us…the world watching (concerned or gleeful)…that this IS REAL.
Daniel, Thanks to you and your fellow residents of the "cities" for standing on the front lines for us...I'm not only horrified but dumbstruck. I must email my old HS pal in St. Paul tomorrow...don't know why I haven't already, but I keep thinking maybe it's a bad dream...like 9/11. Thx again & Godspeed.
It is and my heart hurts so much. I joined many others today in protesting ICE, Trump, and well, the whole damn regime! These thugs will get their comeuppance. I don’t know when or how, but nothing lasts forever. My best to you and all Minnesotans, Daniel.
Chicago Indivisible has called a rally for Sunday at 1 pm at Wells and Michigan. They say,
Today, we witnessed yet another murder by ICE and Border Patrol. This was the latest in escalating violence that has led to - first the murders of Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter and Renee Nicole Macklin Good - and now the murder of Alex Pretti. All because the community is standing up to the kidnapping of our neighbors off the street by the Trump regime. All because we won’t stand idly by and allow our country to devolve into tyranny. Join Indivisible Chicago as we take to the streets and demand ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE and an end to the fascist ICE and CBP violence.
CHICAGO: EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO DHS EXECUTION IN MINNEAPOLIS
Indivisible Chicago is supporting the emergency protest that has been called for by CATA (The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda) and CAARPR (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Coalition) in response to the latest murder by ICE and Border Patrol.
We must put an end to the racial profiling, violence, abductions and intentional cruelty that we witnessed in Chicago during the Fall and are seeing at an even greater scale in Minneapolis now. We demand that ICE and CBP get out of ALL communities. We must put a stop to the unconstitutional actions of a wanna-be-king and his regime.
WHEN: Sunday Jan 25 @ 1PM
WHERE: Ida B Wells & Michigan Ave, Chicago
Follow on Instagram
The actions by ICE and CBP first in Chicago and now in Minneapolis are all part of the plan of theTrump regime to create violence and terror in cities across America. We believe that we are reaching a pivotal time and our response matters more now than ever.
No Funding for ICE and CBP
One immediate thing we can do is demand that the Senate refuse to fund ICE.
The House passed an appropriations bill to fund ICE through September 30 by a vote of 220-207. The bill would increase funding to ICE and CBP and give them the ability to expand their war against cities like Chicago and Minneapolis with no accountability. Seven Democrats voted Yes. The bill will now head to the Senate with a vote expected Wednesday. It will require Democratic votes to make the 60 vote threshold to pass, so it’s critical for Dems to be united.
👉 Tell your senators to rein in ICE right now. Congress has to pass the appropriations bill by January 30 to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded, which means Dems have leverage to include provisions that rein in ICE and freeze its budget. Call Senators Durbin and Duckworth and demand that they oppose the House Bill and use their leverage to protect our communities from ICE. Senator Duckworth has announced her opposition to the bill yet that could change so please keep calling her office. (More info here)
Prepare for Further Action
In addition to the violence of ICE and CBP – Trump has threatened to take the further step of sending active duty military troops to support his attacks against our cities by invoking the Insurrection Act. This terror - of which Trump has recently written - is an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring the military to bear on Minneapolis. Once Trump takes this next step, there’s little to stop him from doing the same in Chicago and across America.
That’s why it’s essential we respond immediately and powerfully should Trump invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act we will plan with our partners an immediate response. We are asking that you be prepared for this; we will send an email to this address calling for a rapid response rally and march. Also, we know we must do more to prepare for the return of CBP to Chicago. How powerfully we are able to respond depends on you. Please forward this email to a friend who is ready to take action and ask them to join us at Indivisible Chicago and then join us in the streets.
Absolutely, we stand with MN. Many in the US were out protesting Saturday! We all must resist and peacefully fight against fascism and federally supported murder.
Stop it, Bill. If our whole culture devolves into anger, vengeance, and violence , we will be irretrievably lost. We will have nothing left to save. We should not let them do that to us. Stop it.
How about- when the time comes a USA Nuremberg Trial- then we can get ALL of these miserable offenders in a way that is LEGAL. And honest- which NONE of them are. Let’s hold them fully accountable without resorting to their disgusting tactics.
I agree. We, and I’m physically safe in my Alabama home, must find a way to yell loud enough that we can’t be ignored. I would write Tommy Tuberville if I thought he would ever read it and think instead of supporting Trump’s every move. He doesn’t want to damage his chance to become governor of a state he doesn’t live in. Having a home in Auburn doesn’t qualify him as living here. I am so disappointed in Katie Britt. She replaced Richard Shelby after working on his staff. He would be ashamed of her. This comment is the only way I can yell without losing my practice. Unfortunately, getting rid of Trump will not solve the problem. It’s far deeper than that. Steven Miller was not elected. I think he was appointed to his position because he is mean and arrogant. He does not have any integrity or any right to hold his,or any, position in government. I believe HCR got the story right. She didn’t say he didn’t have a gun; she acknowledged that but also that he didn’t pull it. He was helping a woman who apparently was pushed down. It was taken from him was taken from him, and there was no indication at all that he was attacking ICE agents. Did every one of the men tackling and restraining him need to fire multiple shots into him? You can’t kill a dead man deader. Despite that, Minnesotans and Americans should not think acting like these animals, maybe not animals individually, but in a crowd, they’re thugs. It just takes 3 or 4 to set this off. They want the people to resist violently and give Trump what he wants. This is not an eye for an eye situation.
Stephen Miller is dangerous because he’s a true believer and still young. His integrity or lack thereof is beside the point: he is presiding over state terror, by design.
RK, the “thugs” remind me of a feral pack enjoying the hunt & takedowns….sigh, twists my guts just to write such words knowing that they are supposed to “protect and defend”.
What a stupid thing to say. Samuel Adams was considered a major "pot-stirrer." Always seen walking around Boston talking to people, uniting people. Sam, lake Bill, is a patriot. Oh, and who was it that said, "Agitate, agitate, agitate"? Frederick Douglass, that's who.
A pot-stirrer like Benjamin Franklin? Or like General Washington, whom the government of the day in the United Kingdom called a “rebel”?
Your nation was founded by pot-stirrers. Every big advance, from the abolition of slavery to the “granting” of citizenship to Native Americans, to the Civil Rights victories were brought about by pot-stirrers. Keep stirring that pot, if you still want a pot to stir.
There is no reason to keep the identity of ICE agents secret. My dad worked for the IRS for 35 years. For his entire career the office in downtown Omaha had a payment window. From 1950 until they closed that office, they never received a threat against any personnel. And they all wore name tags and obviously no masks.
Most of these agents are poorly trained cowards. Publish the names of every ICE and CBP agent and investigate, indict and prosecute all crimes committed by these thugs.
The hotels the agents are staying at, must require names for check-in. Someone needs to publish the list of names after verifying they work for ICE.
Currently the Trump administration is suing EVERY state that refuses to provide a list of voters, including name, SS number and address. I know the attorney general for Maine has refused to turn over this information.
So why shouldn't their names and addresses be withheld from the public if they are just doing the job they are supposed to be doing? And please, no more masks or tear gassing of protestors.
BTW, where is the coward Jonathan Ross? Have they changed his name and put him in witness protection along with his family?
I am astonished that, with all the money ICE is getting from the BBB, their agents are too poor to have uniforms, or badges, or any identifying marks.
You are right that they are cowards. Cowards and pardoned crinimals including the Jan 6 rioters. They belong in jail. If they were law-abiding citizens intereste in keeping lawful citizens safe, they would be working as police. They are not. They are thugs and murderers and domestic terrorists. Our Congress needs to stop them and we need to be on the phone screaming at them until they act.
GL, I was verklempt at the news of the shooting of Alex Pretti—have been in tears throughout the day—and wondered at the character of those involved in his (yes) murder. My thought is that they will be thought of as a “new” KKK….but upon reflection, I wondered if they became agents because that was ALREADY their ideology/affiliation?
Hello Bill... It has been Speculated that as DJT's Dementia Accelerates, Stephen Miller is playing a larger Role in Domestic Policy... Stephen Miller is Rabid, and Hateful... SM recently sold his House, and has moved onto a Military Base... Kristi Noem, and Kash Patel have as well... Hmm?... Why Would They Do This?...
An open letter sent to my governor and published in our local weekly and I will present it again at a meeting of journalists on Tuesday evening. Please pass it on to your governors:
An open Letter to Governor Lamont: Will You Activate the Connecticut National Guard to Protect Residents of Connecticut?
Commentary by Bill DiMauro Katz
The Supreme Court recently ruled that Texas could gerrymander its congressional districts in order to elect a full slate of republican candidates which is in violation of the 14th and 15th amendments. The effect of this rule is to further erode rights of citizens to elect representatives.
States do have significant historic rights embedded in their constitutions. The American Revolution was founded on rebellion against an oppressive central authority and in the 18th century, it was England. Today, the nation has elected a rogue authoritarian leader that states must come to terms with. This tyrannical government can be invisible to the unwary or to those who are informed of current events, realize that our system of federal governance is for now, not representative of the people. The federal government has moved toward tyrannical behavior and will continue unabated until state governments begin protecting its residents. ICE agents (and border patrol and other federal police agencies) in the form of jack-booted and hooded thugs are routinely arresting and dragging screaming residents from the streets.
If the U.S. Supreme Court can grant extreme power to states to gerrymander, then states certainly have rights to protect its residents. Governor Lamont, will you authorize and activate the Connecticut State and National Guard to protect Connecticut residents?
Recently at a local NRZ meeting, I posed the question of protection of residents to our police chief but he seemed confused over the issue. He was not the person in authority to address this although ultimately, state and local army and police should work in tandem to protect residents.
Will you advise our Connecticut National Guard to be prepared to protect our residents from obvious extra judicial federal overreach? By assuming the lead in this response to a threatening federal government, Connecticut could take the lead and become a model for other states to follow.
Steven Miller inspires Trump and co. to do it the same way Israel does: act with impunity and cruelty, blame the victim, take over the "investigations" of the murders of innocents, and lie, lie lie.
If Israel can get away with it, why shouldn't the USA?
Soon we will have Netanyahu in the Congress getting standing ovations. Our administration's hero.
Like the heroes who shot the dangerous ICU nurse.
We will never know the identities of those heroes.
Of course, too, Bill, he's long well practiced in watching his back.
He's long hated, feared, loathed, been paranoid of blacks, brown-skinned people, gays, uppity women, and anyone Vladimir Putin might also deem not sufficiently white, conventional, super-mainstream.
You can see the stress, accumulated tension from all this in his beady eyes.
Bill, in all my 76 yrs I have never, ever, felt such abhorrence and hate for a select group of people than I do for those in this regime …that these feeling rise in me is startling. The hippy-dippy part of me wants to collect them all for a trip up the Amazon to a weeklong shaman-led ayahuasca retreat….and then, perhaps, a news presser at the airport when they disembark. Dunno, might be interesting. ☮️
From HCR Today: "Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) had more to say: “What we just saw this morning on the streets of Minneapolis is another outright murder by federal officials. And let me just be clear, those federal ICE officers are absolute cowards. I am a Marine veteran standing here telling you to your face they are unprofessional, pathetic cowards. Because if a Marine, an 18 year old Marine, did that in Iraq in the middle of a war zone, he would be court martialed because it is murder. And you pathetic little cowards who have to wear face masks because you’re so damn scared, couldn’t even effectively wrestle a guy [to] the ground, so you needed to shoot him? This is why ICE needs to be prosecuted. Yeah, I voted to defund it, but ICE, you need to be prosecuted, and Director [Todd] Lyons, who’s running ICE right now, I hope you’re hearing this from this Marine to you. You guys are criminal thugs. You need to be held accountable to law if you think you can enforce it, and you need to be prosecuted right now.” .. ... Seth Moulton is a Man 0f Principal... He is one of my Favorite Politicians... Seth graduated Harvard with a Physics Degree, and then received his USMC Commission via USMC OCS School, and served in Iraq as an Infantry Officer... When Seth returned, he went to Harvard's JFK School of Public Service... Seth Moulton, and I are different Generations, but we share Common Ground... I Deeply Respect Him... Semper Fi...
Any statement from Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine)? Like Moulton, he is a former Marine. But as far as I now, Golden voted in favor of ICE funding – without demanding any guardrails or accountability.
Democrats must stand strong and united! In the words of Simon Rosenberg and Hopium Chronicles:
"In an ideal world, what we would see next week is a public statement signed by all Dem Governors, AGs, Senate and House Democrats that states clearly that:
–– Rule of law must be re-established in America, ICE must be reined in, and Trump’s outrageous plunder and corruption must end
– That he must back off his illegal and destructive territorial ambitions, end all these ridiculous tariffs, and re-commit to the Trans-Atlantic Alliance."
If all elected Democrats, state-level and federal, stand united, there is a better chance of a few Republicans standing up for what is right. Recent bipartisan votes against Trump in the House and Senate are clear evidence of cracks opening up. But we have a long ways to go.
I have looked at the videos and I’m not seeing what CNN says about the agent pulling the gun from Alex Perretti‘s waistband. The camera from across the street seems to show the agent picking it up, they may have had Alex in a position where it fell from his backpack. Then he walks to a different position and slugs Alex with the gun twice, then the scene starts to break up and gunshots are fired. Is anybody else seeing this?
Try these, in hours or a day all the collected video will get posted. It’s there, including from the lady in pink who was standing 180-degrees opposite the first released footage, and more observers. Frame-by-frame analysis is coming online, Dropsitenews.com
Bellingcat is a reliable source: “ We’ve placed the available videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis today into the same synchronised timeline and are continuing to analyse further.”
It’s shocking. Pretti held a camera earlier and all the way into the scuffle, not a gun, so Noem was ignorant. It doesn’t appear Alex Pretti’s weapon fired, either by Pretti or misfired in the scuffle. It was retrieved by another agent and secured from the immediate scene before any shot rang out. DropSite’s slowdown of the footage by the lady wearing pink shows: the killer agent unholster his own gun, aim, and fire the first shot when Pretti was forced prone on the ground face down and had no weapon and had been whacked in the head three times (not two). And they (he) backed away and fired more. And they got in a vehicle and left shortly after as people screamed don’t let them run away! They will be ID’d soon enough, and Minnesota will proscecute. [edited]
I have never been prouder to be an American. We continue to fight. From the NO KINGS, 50501, Bridge Brigades, everyday protests, writing Congress, and people bringing food to those too afraid to go out I am prouder than ever to be an American.
We are the ones in the streets fighting. There are more of us than them. And we will win.
The American people elected Trump twice and must accept responsibility for what he has done.
Trump has been lying constantly his whole life and has failed to keep numerous campaign promises and too many others to count as well but it was clear exactly who he was when he was elected the first time and even more painfully clear who he was after January 6, 2021.
Republicans failed to convict on two impeachments. The SCOTUS has enabled him at nearly every turn. But the American people must also be held accountable for every single crime he commits.
One-third the electorate didn’t have the sense God gave little green apples. It voted for a vicious, cruel, dissembling scumbag. It actually believed his idiotic lies. When he called people “vermin” it applauded. When he claimed to cure disease, end wars and lower prices, this group washed it all down with their own kool-aid.
A second group voted for unflashy sanity. The third were too busy watching Tik-Tok videos to care. And so the worst of the worst came to power — again.
I believe it was Jefferson (perhaps quoting Montesquieu, I don’t remember) who said that people mostly get the government they deserve.
Annieli of Daily Kos put up a claim that Texas has 2.1 million undocumented immigrants and Florida has 1.6 million, but Minnesota has 130,000. I have not verified the figures but they are not surprising all things considered. What rational explanation could justify how these troops have been dispatched if the immigrants were really the problem?
Remember the overriding principle in hand is to create martial law. This dog and pony show has nothing to do with immigrants except in as much as they are the modern day “Jewish victims”. Immigrants are salting the gold mine.
Immigrants are doing jobs for low pay that citizens won't do.
I'd like the see ICE go into the chicken precessing plants to liberate them from dangerous filthy abusive employment. I'll bet many would love to get back to poor but clean Guatemala.
The owners of these plants pay off politicians to leave them alone.
The Trump Administration isn't just lying for all to see about another murder of a citizen. It's reveling in it, as if the grotesque act is somehow a victory.
It should be clear to everyone that Trump and his collaborating criminals have in essence declared that anyone in America could be next. For any reason, even a whim, or if a masked ICE agent is simply in a bad mood. And face not a single repercussion.
I think that is the whole point of tyranny — to threaten, to ‘make an example of,’ to rely solely on fear, terror, intimidation, cruelty, debauchery. It is literally their sole message — they have no other.
We all keep wondering — is this it? Is this the straw to break the camel’s back? When will that moment come? With each perfidy, each new act of criminality and cruelty, they bring themselves closer to their own destruction.
Thank you so much, Heather. Is there no way to get through to just a dozen or so congressional republicans? They can come out of this looking like the “heroes of democracy” if that’s the optic they need. Give them a tickertape parade for god sake.
Will someone please get through to them and tell them what you just said? They can still come out of this looking good if they break with Trump and end this horror that he has unleashed. I think that this would make Vance think twice about how he would act as President. If not, they will be forever remembered as cowards and supporters of an attempt to destroy this country. It is good to see Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as such antitheses to the feds.
A small, but telling point. If you read Pam Bondi’s snide, sniveling letter to Tim Walz, she doesn’t even bother with the formalities of state by addressing him as “The Honorable…” The letter just reads “Tim Walz.” And there is no salutation, such as “Dear Governor…” it just reads “Governor.”
The whole point was to express rudeness, condescension, belittling. It reveals who these people truly are — small, arrogant, contemptuous of everyone save themselves.
Historians do not forget such small points, for they often reveal larger truths the writers of such things don’t realize they’re broadcasting. Neither should we.
As much as I hate to say this, I think we’re at a point where graphic evidence as a result of their horrific violence is needed to show the public what is going on. No different from what Emmett Till’s mother did.
EXACTLY! Politicians only ever worry about the next election. They could run on "Savior of the Constitution" or "Protector of the People" and gain votes even from Democratic constituents. They need to think hard about that. It's time to stand up, Congress!
Or run on being an emotional adult. Not so "exciting" yet exciting enough with respect to where it could lead. Pandemonium gets to be a pain after a while.
Though by "adult" I don't mean stodgy. Lincoln wasn't, but he was forward-thinking, he was invested in the fate of the commonwealth over personal gain, and was very professional.
I agree in substance. But the Reps communication teams are probably urging them to get views on TikTok. So I say, let them paint themselves as "Saviors". That will get them views. Even Dems will vote for them if they "save" us.
We are the ghost in the sense that we’re the first ones to get killed, or not. Seems like the Minneapolis people are the Canaries in the coal mine in a sense. The Republican politicians look at this and feel that unless they support it, they will undergo the same fate.
We can either stun ourselves into inaction by thinking like your first sentence or we can keep fighting back. I honestly don't think much about Republicans. They are a lost cause as far as I am concerned.
I don't call the Minnesota people by any other description than our sister and brother Americans.
We have many excellent options for fighting back on any given day. For example, yesterday I wrote my Congress people to stop funding ICE.
There are still form of resistance we can take every single day.
I like to muse sometimes, Barbara, that the “ghosts” that ‘Rump is responsible for are “shades” surrounding him in the WH/Mara Lardo in the night…thus he can’t sleep and is driven to erratic, excitable, unhinged “tweets” as a result. A, um, haunting thought.
Will take just a handful of Republicans, Mike, to turn House over to Dems.
Yes, give those few committee chairs.
Can Dems get enough votes come November that Dems need run no candidates against Republicans who at least come close to being legit independents? (Don Bacon? Mike Lawler? Others?)
Apart from a handful of predatory Tyrants, the Trump Administration is turning the rest of the world against us. Who with half a brain thinks that that will go well? Half a brain and a particle of decency? Will the ride to the bottom still be fun if we manage to get there?
The protests will show them the problem and the letters will tell them what we want them to do about it. I think we have to show up on THEIR streets to get their attention!
If Trump can rename cabinet positions, so can we. The Department of Homeland Security is now the Department of Domestic Warfare. After all, he told us, "The enemy is within."
Given that Trump has already renamed the nation his "Unified Reich," I think MAGAstapo is quite adequate.
Note: unpleasantly arthritic-fingered, I initially mistyped the above as "MEGAstapo" and of course corrected it immediately. But then I realized the Muse had blessed me with a new acronym for what the ChristoNazis are truly doing: Making Evil Godly Again.
Maybe you could actually find something original to say — a perspective nobody’s yet mentioned — rather than continue flogging a dead horse until it turns to dust?
Or do you really think there’s someone here who needs persuading?
Absolutely! I plan to channel my feelings into action. I’ve already been doing all the things I know to do, but we all must do more. But for today, I need to cry and rage a bit and let those emotions loose. They will toughen me for what lies ahead. By the way, I often love your thoughtful and smart comments here. I suspect you lashed out a bit because you, too, are feeling an overload of rage and frustration and sadness. We are all hurting today.
I have been in a state of rage ever since hearing about this brutal murder. There was a pop up anti ICE protest late this afternoon in front of the Anchorage DHS offices. Around 100 people showed up, in 18F above zero, and with almost no notice, to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis. I was an ICU nurse prior to retirement, and most of my friends are also nurses, so this hits us especially hard. Very well aware that none of us are safe. Citizenship and white skin are no protection, in this fascist police state we are living in.
As someone who was once under the care of ICU nurses, my respect for nurses is particularly great. All of us tonight are thinking of you, what you do and how you do it. We thank you for your dedication, professionalism and training. When I heard that Alex Pretti had been trying to protect a woman knocked down by these guys, it told me everything about this young man I needed to know.
Me, too, Betsy. At the end of the video, Heather, when you had to work so hard to hold on, I broke down, too. For the rest of us, today, we all feel so much - sad and angry and everything in between - but as soon as we can, we need to channel that energy into major action. If Minnesotans can protest in such frigid weather, there’s no excuse for the rest of us. When we aren’t protesting, we need to be making calls and writing postcards so that we overwhelm (and scare the bejeesus out of) lawmakers. And we need to boycott and contact the companies that support this crap. All I need to buy right now is food and whistles. ICE set up south of Atlanta this week, close to where I live. They have 75 Tahoes purchased from Hendricks Motorsports (think NASCAR), who has a number of dealerships in the South. We need to ramp up our peaceful disruptions. Stay safe. Stay peaceful. But make LOTS of good trouble. That’s tomorrow. Today, I will cry.
The Trump junta is a gang of lawless thugs. Republicans in Congress could stop this by removing Trump from office. They will not do so because they prefer to continue to kowtow to the 77 million malignant bastards that put a thug in the White House. The blame for this sad catastrophe goes squarely to the 77 million. They are enemies of humanity, every last one of them.
I agree Rex. I also maintain the congressmen who have cashed in their morality are bankrupt. They deserve to be retired to the big house with the cabinet and the shooters.
There are dozens of ICE agents, FBI agents, DC officials, and politicians who are busy tonight trying to cover up this murder. Will they escape justice just like the lynch mobs did? But America will never forget their public perfidy.
These were almost assuredly not ICE officials. A small, but important point that Heather herself made in an earlier podcast. They were Border Patrol — the CPB. They were Dan Bongino’s group of misfits — those with the worst human rights records, those responsible early last year for grabbing people from Venezuela off the streets and deporting them to brutal camps for terrorists in El Salvador — for a price we still know nothing about.
Part of the chaos, incompetence and misgovernance that mark this stupid, lazy, cruel, careless clique of baboons is their own purposeful mixing up of the institutions they fall back on to enforce their disorder. All Americans should be demanding to know — what is the Border Patrol doing throwing flash-bang grenades at demonstrators in downtown Minneapolis to begin with?
Can you imagine how stressed out these stupid, lazy, cruel, careless clique of baboons become, dealing with all the angry civilians? And, they have guns.
The fire aim ready gang that couldn’t shoot straight strikes again! Now they’re killing first responders and medical professionals!? This is NOT law enforcement. This is the U.S. gestapo. I’m with the innocent citizens of Minnesota, NOT with the idiots playing God as if they are on reality TV. NOT the lying hypocritical fascists and sycophants of Delusional Donny Dumbass. NOT with false equivalence corporate “news”. Facts matter. Common sense matters. Lives of innocent people matter. Actions speak louder than words but sometimes words are all that we have. Both should be used with care. I will not say the word ‘cop’ when I’m referring to Invading Citizen Exterminators. I will not say ‘agent’ in this context, as I used to have that word in my job title and I was proud of that. I will not say America in this context because that would be an insult to Canadians and Mexicans and Venezuelans and the rest. We must ask ourselves, what have we become? My daughter is an RN who used to work in ERs So is my daughter-in-law. My son is a firefighter/ paramedic. They SAVE lives, sometimes risking their lives to do so. So this is personal to me now. I’m ready for the next peaceful protest. This does not mean that I want war on our streets. We are not gangsters. We are GOOD and innocent citizens who have compassion and care and common sense ingrained in our core. We are not out for vengeance, real or imaginary. I have never even been to Minnesota, but my heart is with them now,and also the GOOD people of Maine.
The problem with the Democratic statement is that I don't believe Schumer as far as I can throw him. He always talks tough but then he gets his senators who are not up for re-election to vote with the Republicans.
I live in Minneapolis, and last night I went to bed extremely proud of my state for how we took on dangerously frigid conditions to cry out against ICE’s inhumane presence here. If not for my medical procedure, it was very much a moment I wanted to be a part of. This morning I woke up to the most nauseating video I could imagine, as ICE gunned down another civilian. I never believe we’ve hit rock bottom, but I keep finding new levels of rage within me I didn’t even know I was capable of producing.
The DOJ is claiming this was self defense, when this was so clearly murder. The party that has defended gun rights to death, blamed a conceal and carry permit holder for having a gun he never pulled out. Trump followers continue supporting ICE, making light of his murder and contradicting everything clearly on video. I know there’s always the inclination to say, “when will enough be enough”, “when will they stop this”, etc. I cannot stress this enough, just ignore MAGA. Ignore every hateful comment, every stupid rationale, every attempt at trolling. They’re a lost cause, and nothing is changing their opinion. Change is not reliant on seeing eye to eye. Every effort needs to be placed on being laser focused on getting ICE out of our state, and holding this administration responsible. Every ounce of energy that you invest wondering why people are like this, or changing their opinion is wasted. It’s been 10 years of this garbage, it’s rapidly getting worse and his base is unmoved. They don’t deserve acknowledgment, and we don’t need them to demand change.
I can’t speak for everyone here in Minnesota, but I promise you many of us here especially in the cities are being put through Hell. We can’t be the battleground for the entire country. You either believe what you see, or believe what you’re told. Anyone still with a clear eyed view of the world needs to be a participant in making this stop. If we can stand up in -22 degree weather, everyone can.
Daniel -- Joyce Vance (Civil Discourse with Shanna Bellows ( Sec.of State/Maine) spoke to your ending.
" No matter where we live, we have a role to play. We can't fall into despair and
hopelessness. We have to fight. We have to stand up. We have to make people aware."
Shanna: " This is our country. They are a minority. They're a violent minority. But we, the people need to rise up and take our Constitution back and protect our neighbors in this moment."
HCR reminds us to be peaceful in our protests and actions. As hard as that may be, Heather speaks with the wisdom of a historian. And today, you could feel her pain - the pain and grief we are all feeling tonight...
When a country is run by an utterly corrupt, evil, power mad fascist and has surrounded himself with equally evil corrupt bigots there are predictable outcomes. Xenophobic madmen turn on powerless immigrant populations and terrorize them as a distraction while they steal from all of us. When an opposition arises, some people need to be randomly murdered. The ancient Chinese called this strategy "Kill the rooster to frighten the monkey"(杀鸡儆猴) or "make an example of weak victims to frighten bigger threats." And so it goes. JVL at the Bulwark rightly said today, "Killing Alex Jeffrey Pretti was the Trump administration’s policy." Our deluded "leadership":seems to believe can be so easily intimidated. We won't. They are few and we, who believe in America, are millions and millions. Let's get out and make "good trouble". They don't stand a chance.
Thank you, Merrill, a much needed pep talk! Time to listen to my “anthem” again (have posted it here before as a “boost” to share)— Jackson Browne’s “Til I Go Down” (and yeah, I listened to the whole thing before I did the cut ‘n paste): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmzimxfqgfw
Yes, Michele, HCR’s grief was palpable…had my tears rolling yet again listening to her. It’s almost as if I can’t believe my eyes (is this real?)…and then to hear from this Admin “don’t believe your eyes, we will tell you what’s real”. Where the hell am I????
It's like we have gone down a rabbit hole filled with dark foreboding, evil intents, lawless killings, and massacres of the spirit...but with resilience and perseverance, and solidarity we will keep working to rid ourselves of this tyranny...
And alarming, too, Michele, is that ‘Rump is just the carving on the prow of the ship…the ship being those in command behind the scenes. Me thinks they will find they’ve gotten, as they say, “too big for their britches”. Come on comeuppance!!!!
Yes, we have to fight. And, as Heather posted, Minnesota AG Keith Elision went to court to stop the Trump Administration's & CPB's destruction of evidence.
But, Good Midnight News MN time.
Per NBC NEWS, Gary Grumback & Dennis Romero,18 minutes after Midnight 1/25/26, a Federal Judge in in Minnesota has issued an order that " ... blocked the Trump Administration from destroying or altering the evidence" that related to the fatal shooting of Pretti.
This order goes well beyond preserving the CRIME SCENE & includes preserving collected shell casings & recovered any bullets, valuable evidence in an official autopsy.
CPB & ICE OUT NOW!
Chicagoans stand with Minnesotans.
Chicago Indivisible has called a rally for Sunday at 1 pm at Wells and Michigan. They say,
Today, we witnessed yet another murder by ICE and Border Patrol. This was the latest in escalating violence that has led to - first the murders of Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter and Renee Nicole Macklin Good - and now the murder of Alex Pretti. All because the community is standing up to the kidnapping of our neighbors off the street by the Trump regime. All because we won’t stand idly by and allow our country to devolve into tyranny. Join Indivisible Chicago as we take to the streets and demand ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE and an end to the fascist ICE and CBP violence.
CHICAGO: EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO DHS EXECUTION IN MINNEAPOLIS
Indivisible Chicago is supporting the emergency protest that has been called for by CATA (The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda) and CAARPR (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Coalition) in response to the latest murder by ICE and Border Patrol.
We must put an end to the racial profiling, violence, abductions and intentional cruelty that we witnessed in Chicago during the Fall and are seeing at an even greater scale in Minneapolis now. We demand that ICE and CBP get out of ALL communities. We must put a stop to the unconstitutional actions of a wanna-be-king and his regime.
WHEN: Sunday Jan 25 @ 1PM
WHERE: Ida B Wells & Michigan Ave, Chicago
Follow on Instagram
The actions by ICE and CBP first in Chicago and now in Minneapolis are all part of the plan of theTrump regime to create violence and terror in cities across America. We believe that we are reaching a pivotal time and our response matters more now than ever.
No Funding for ICE and CBP
One immediate thing we can do is demand that the Senate refuse to fund ICE.
The House passed an appropriations bill to fund ICE through September 30 by a vote of 220-207. The bill would increase funding to ICE and CBP and give them the ability to expand their war against cities like Chicago and Minneapolis with no accountability. Seven Democrats voted Yes. The bill will now head to the Senate with a vote expected Wednesday. It will require Democratic votes to make the 60 vote threshold to pass, so it’s critical for Dems to be united.
👉 Tell your senators to rein in ICE right now. Congress has to pass the appropriations bill by January 30 to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded, which means Dems have leverage to include provisions that rein in ICE and freeze its budget. Call Senators Durbin and Duckworth and demand that they oppose the House Bill and use their leverage to protect our communities from ICE. Senator Duckworth has announced her opposition to the bill yet that could change so please keep calling her office. (More info here)
Prepare for Further Action
In addition to the violence of ICE and CBP – Trump has threatened to take the further step of sending active duty military troops to support his attacks against our cities by invoking the Insurrection Act. This terror - of which Trump has recently written - is an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring the military to bear on Minneapolis. Once Trump takes this next step, there’s little to stop him from doing the same in Chicago and across America.
That’s why it’s essential we respond immediately and powerfully should Trump invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act we will plan with our partners an immediate response. We are asking that you be prepared for this; we will send an email to this address calling for a rapid response rally and march. Also, we know we must do more to prepare for the return of CBP to Chicago. How powerfully we are able to respond depends on you. Please forward this email to a friend who is ready to take action and ask them to join us at Indivisible Chicago and then join us in the streets.
We should recognize the sexual victimization of terrorized children by the Trumpstein Cult -- let's start calling it what it is -- is the direct ancestor of the terror the MAGAstapo is now unleashing on anyone who refuses to kowtow to the ChristoNazi theocracy. Thus the vital, know-our-enemy relevance of the full text of the Jane Doe lawsuit against Trump and Epstein -- later withdrawn in response to credible death threats against the plaintiff: https://cdn.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/Johnson_TrumpEpstein_Lawsuit.pdf
Please let us ensure this text is linked early (and therefore prominently) on as many Resistance sites as possible every day until the traitorous regime of ecogenocidal ChristoNazi pedophiles is no more. (I'll do my best to be responsible for this posting, but I am 85 years old and terminally ill, which means others need be ready to pick up the torch on days I am absent and after I am no more.)
Thank you, Daniel Lundquist-Peskorz, for your efforts, and thanks to the multitude of others who joined you in this work. I don’t know whether it will help, but it has to be done, regardless. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
My first cousin married an American and they’ve made their home in Minneapolis. In addition, we have very dear family friends - people I’ve known most of my life - from Minnesota.My thoughts are very much with all of them at the moment, as with their fellow Minnesotans. You are a brave, brave people.
Your federal government appears to be making war on you and deploying disinformation (which anyone seeing the videos can see is disinformation). It’s absolutely appalling.
What I don’t understand is why other states aren’t coming to your aid. Why is Minnesota being hung out as a martyr state? Where are all the other Americans?
We have citizens support from across the country. As our professor has said, the action is now in the hands and voices of We, the People.
Oh that’s all right, then. You can stay home and watch Netflix.
Did you misunderstand what KEM posted? Is English perhaps not your first language? Or are you a troll?
Huh?
Sorry, KEM, I was responding to someone who was saying that they were leaving it in the hands of the representatives, which seemed to me highly dubious as a way forward, given how useless your Congress has been. It’s reached the point where it’s up to citizens to organise together, and I am so sorry that all your guardrails are failing. We all thought that checks and balances were real.
But my initial question was about something else: I would like to know why the other blue *states* aren’t coming to the aid of Minnesota. Is it even being discussed in other states?
If a blue state were to support Minnesota in the way you are suggesting, such as through action by its national guard, it would be moments only before Trump declared an open insurrection and ordered military strikes against both states.
Let's be clear, he is going to do that soon enough, but Democrats and democratic governors seem content to wait until Trump is good and ready to invade them to bother resisting this unlawful occupation, insurrection, and the murder of dozens of people.
Case in point is the activation and ongoing training of the 82nd and 11th airborne divisions to prepare to attack and occupy urban environments that is currently ongoing. Trump is making his preparations to invade and occupy American cities so as to invalidate, cancel, contest or usurp the upcoming elections, and the states have so far decided that thier citizens lives are not worth defending in the hopes that von Shittler will allow them the appearance of elections in November.
I have been wondering how my brother is taking the fact that this nurse was wearing a holstered gun. My brother's a libertarian but his big and I guess only political criteria is the NRA line about guns. He believes if everybody had guns or at least the people that wanted to, then everyone would be safe . Although we happen to have 27 firearms in our house, I doubt he has more. But it's just a fake division, like the entire great divide in America.
I only know how many firearms we had because one time when I was inspected I had to unlock the safe and the inspector counted every single one.
One of Trump's favorite words is "emergency", and sometimes you have to improvise to meet an urgent situation, but Trump has banged on about immigration for months now, and the actual "emergencies" have all been of the GOP's making.
How about we go back to seeking due process and Constitutional procedures as the best way forward. Was that not why the Revolution was fought, and the Constitution written. No system is perfect, but it was working pretty well until now.
Sensationalism, J L.
It's in the dictator's playbook -- keep on about how "they" are threatening "us." Are looming, poised to pounce, to steal, to rape, murder.
Dictators have no programs to improve ordinary people's lives. It's all theater. All hysteria all the time.
You fought a war of independence that lasted 6-7 years, so the answer to your question is no, before being constitutional you had to fight for the right to be constitutional.
People, listen! We have the right to rebel! Our duty to obey ends when government stops delivering rule of law! It's a right that goes back all the way to feudalism. Read more about the roots of the modern right to rebel at: https://hpschrader.substack.com/p/the-right-to-rebel
I salute you, Daniel. And I salute Minnesota. Old and crippled as I am, I remain a Regular Army veteran, sworn by an oath that has no expiration date to do my best defend the Constitution, and though the most I can do is weaponize my keyboard and utilize the editorial skills of a near lifetime in print journalism, that I shall do as long as I am able.
After all, Loren, “the pen* is mightier than the sword”….do believe that is true in the long run. It takes us all, whatever our contributions may be!☮️
*tho these days may equate to social media & smart phones.
My respect for the people of Minneapolis — a city I once spent a summer in — could not be greater. In the wake of sub-zero temperatures, flash-bang weapons, the presence of out-of-control zombies who resemble an alien attack force, you are THERE. With whistles, cell phone cameras, candles — a front line presence against raging stupidity, cruelty, illegality and tyranny.
“It feels like the dam breaking,” said one demonstrator. From his mouth straight to God’s ears.
Other cities must stand up
How many innocent people have to be murdered by ICE/CBP? How many times does this administration get to lie to our faces about it?
It isn’t just about Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti. It is about every black and brown person that died before them in ICE custody, every refugee and asylum seeker who has been killed after being sent back to what they tried to escape.
It is about every politician who voted for the destruction of democracy.
There is only one way to stop this madness in America—massive peaceful demonstrations during a general strike.
JUSTICE: WE WILL REMEMBER
So well said, Daniel.
Thank you ❤️
I am feeling for you tonight Daniel, feeling for the family of Alex Pretti, and for all Minnesotans, living in this GOP created warzone. The most devastating part of today’s news for me is the image of Alex Pretti’s wife sobbing from the sidelines, screaming, “Stop, please! Stop!! Please!! We were just running from the gas, that’s all we were doing.” That sound doesn’t leave you. Research shows that around nine people are deeply affected by every death. But when a death is violent—when it’s witnessed, filmed, shared, replayed—the impact spreads so much further. Even people who never saw it in person can feel shaken, distressed, overwhelmed. It's called vicarious trauma. It’s real, and it’s heavy.
And then there’s the GOP bullshit. The defensiveness. The spin. The attempts to minimise what people just watched with their own eyes. That layer makes it almost impossible to process, to grieve, to feel safe.
If you’re feeling affected by this, even if you’re far away, even if you didn’t know him — you are not alone. This kind of violence doesn’t stay contained.
One thing that can help in moments like this is a technique called 'Radical Acceptance' - a mindfulness approach for sitting with what’s unbearable, especially when there’s nothing we can fix or control. It doesn’t mean agreeing with what happened. It just means not fighting reality inside your own nervous system. Here’s a gentle video that explains it beautifully:
https://youtu.be/iVwIVwGOnpo
Please take care of yourselves. Hold each other. Log off if you need to. This stuff gets into the body, not just the mind. Please know: better days will come.💔
Thank you.this little video is indeed concise and helpful, a good start and a good reminder for those of us already grounded in mindfulness practice..mine began with Thich Nhat Hanh…but I’ve been shaken and wobbly recently. In Maine we , many on many levels, are working to bring light and effective action to protect each other and those we do not yet know. May we and those in other states prevail.
I am grateful for the guidance I often find in the comments! Courage
Kazz, this nation will be—no IS—traumatized by this regime. Many caught flat-footed in disbelief….awareness, fear and horror slowly dawning on us…the world watching (concerned or gleeful)…that this IS REAL.
Daniel, Thanks to you and your fellow residents of the "cities" for standing on the front lines for us...I'm not only horrified but dumbstruck. I must email my old HS pal in St. Paul tomorrow...don't know why I haven't already, but I keep thinking maybe it's a bad dream...like 9/11. Thx again & Godspeed.
It’s very real
It is and my heart hurts so much. I joined many others today in protesting ICE, Trump, and well, the whole damn regime! These thugs will get their comeuppance. I don’t know when or how, but nothing lasts forever. My best to you and all Minnesotans, Daniel.
Chicagoans stands with the people of Minneapolis.
Chicago Indivisible has called a rally for Sunday at 1 pm at Wells and Michigan. They say,
Today, we witnessed yet another murder by ICE and Border Patrol. This was the latest in escalating violence that has led to - first the murders of Silverio Villegas González, Keith Porter and Renee Nicole Macklin Good - and now the murder of Alex Pretti. All because the community is standing up to the kidnapping of our neighbors off the street by the Trump regime. All because we won’t stand idly by and allow our country to devolve into tyranny. Join Indivisible Chicago as we take to the streets and demand ICE OUT OF EVERYWHERE and an end to the fascist ICE and CBP violence.
CHICAGO: EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO DHS EXECUTION IN MINNEAPOLIS
Indivisible Chicago is supporting the emergency protest that has been called for by CATA (The Coalition Against the Trump Agenda) and CAARPR (Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Coalition) in response to the latest murder by ICE and Border Patrol.
We must put an end to the racial profiling, violence, abductions and intentional cruelty that we witnessed in Chicago during the Fall and are seeing at an even greater scale in Minneapolis now. We demand that ICE and CBP get out of ALL communities. We must put a stop to the unconstitutional actions of a wanna-be-king and his regime.
WHEN: Sunday Jan 25 @ 1PM
WHERE: Ida B Wells & Michigan Ave, Chicago
Follow on Instagram
The actions by ICE and CBP first in Chicago and now in Minneapolis are all part of the plan of theTrump regime to create violence and terror in cities across America. We believe that we are reaching a pivotal time and our response matters more now than ever.
No Funding for ICE and CBP
One immediate thing we can do is demand that the Senate refuse to fund ICE.
The House passed an appropriations bill to fund ICE through September 30 by a vote of 220-207. The bill would increase funding to ICE and CBP and give them the ability to expand their war against cities like Chicago and Minneapolis with no accountability. Seven Democrats voted Yes. The bill will now head to the Senate with a vote expected Wednesday. It will require Democratic votes to make the 60 vote threshold to pass, so it’s critical for Dems to be united.
👉 Tell your senators to rein in ICE right now. Congress has to pass the appropriations bill by January 30 to keep the Department of Homeland Security funded, which means Dems have leverage to include provisions that rein in ICE and freeze its budget. Call Senators Durbin and Duckworth and demand that they oppose the House Bill and use their leverage to protect our communities from ICE. Senator Duckworth has announced her opposition to the bill yet that could change so please keep calling her office. (More info here)
Prepare for Further Action
In addition to the violence of ICE and CBP – Trump has threatened to take the further step of sending active duty military troops to support his attacks against our cities by invoking the Insurrection Act. This terror - of which Trump has recently written - is an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act and bring the military to bear on Minneapolis. Once Trump takes this next step, there’s little to stop him from doing the same in Chicago and across America.
That’s why it’s essential we respond immediately and powerfully should Trump invoke the Insurrection Act. If Trump invokes the Insurrection Act we will plan with our partners an immediate response. We are asking that you be prepared for this; we will send an email to this address calling for a rapid response rally and march. Also, we know we must do more to prepare for the return of CBP to Chicago. How powerfully we are able to respond depends on you. Please forward this email to a friend who is ready to take action and ask them to join us at Indivisible Chicago and then join us in the streets.
Absolutely, we stand with MN. Many in the US were out protesting Saturday! We all must resist and peacefully fight against fascism and federally supported murder.
Immoral Kindness Exterminators formerly known as ICE, a Trump Production.
Thank you, Heather. I am so sorry that you are recording such tragic historical news...day in and day out.
I hope that Steven Miller will need to watch his back for the rest of his abbreviated life span.
Stop it, Bill. If our whole culture devolves into anger, vengeance, and violence , we will be irretrievably lost. We will have nothing left to save. We should not let them do that to us. Stop it.
No you stop it. The man needs to vanish. Go to bed. Or sleep. Those who murdered were tried and hung for similar atrocities in World War II.
How about- when the time comes a USA Nuremberg Trial- then we can get ALL of these miserable offenders in a way that is LEGAL. And honest- which NONE of them are. Let’s hold them fully accountable without resorting to their disgusting tactics.
Sure. However, I doubt the miserable offenders will ever be identified.
Speaking of a Nuremberg trial... Consider Israel. That would be a million offenders.
Better one man than millions.
But since you reject violence, I’m assuming you’re busy co-organising a strike or a mass sit-down? You must be big on civil disobedience?
I agree. We, and I’m physically safe in my Alabama home, must find a way to yell loud enough that we can’t be ignored. I would write Tommy Tuberville if I thought he would ever read it and think instead of supporting Trump’s every move. He doesn’t want to damage his chance to become governor of a state he doesn’t live in. Having a home in Auburn doesn’t qualify him as living here. I am so disappointed in Katie Britt. She replaced Richard Shelby after working on his staff. He would be ashamed of her. This comment is the only way I can yell without losing my practice. Unfortunately, getting rid of Trump will not solve the problem. It’s far deeper than that. Steven Miller was not elected. I think he was appointed to his position because he is mean and arrogant. He does not have any integrity or any right to hold his,or any, position in government. I believe HCR got the story right. She didn’t say he didn’t have a gun; she acknowledged that but also that he didn’t pull it. He was helping a woman who apparently was pushed down. It was taken from him was taken from him, and there was no indication at all that he was attacking ICE agents. Did every one of the men tackling and restraining him need to fire multiple shots into him? You can’t kill a dead man deader. Despite that, Minnesotans and Americans should not think acting like these animals, maybe not animals individually, but in a crowd, they’re thugs. It just takes 3 or 4 to set this off. They want the people to resist violently and give Trump what he wants. This is not an eye for an eye situation.
Stephen Miller is dangerous because he’s a true believer and still young. His integrity or lack thereof is beside the point: he is presiding over state terror, by design.
Britt is a Stepford wife for your state. Remember her little teeny self in a made-up kitchen after giving a rebuttal? I surely do!
They are Stormtroopers, like the SA, and operating in the same way. The next stage is even worse unless US citizens rise up and stop it.
RK, the “thugs” remind me of a feral pack enjoying the hunt & takedowns….sigh, twists my guts just to write such words knowing that they are supposed to “protect and defend”.
Bill’s a pot stirrer. Scroll past him
What a stupid thing to say. Samuel Adams was considered a major "pot-stirrer." Always seen walking around Boston talking to people, uniting people. Sam, lake Bill, is a patriot. Oh, and who was it that said, "Agitate, agitate, agitate"? Frederick Douglass, that's who.
Please include yourself thank you.
Pot-stirrer. I like that label. I’ll use it in one of my future blogs. Thank you again.
A pot-stirrer like Benjamin Franklin? Or like General Washington, whom the government of the day in the United Kingdom called a “rebel”?
Your nation was founded by pot-stirrers. Every big advance, from the abolition of slavery to the “granting” of citizenship to Native Americans, to the Civil Rights victories were brought about by pot-stirrers. Keep stirring that pot, if you still want a pot to stir.
Excellent. Imagine the war without Thomas Paine’s Pamphlets stirring up the the militias. Like, ah, what war?
Bill Katz is not saying anything awful. He is merely saying Stephen Miller will reap what he is sowing.
If a dog was acting like Miller, you'd put it down before it hurt someone. Is all I'm saying.
There is no reason to keep the identity of ICE agents secret. My dad worked for the IRS for 35 years. For his entire career the office in downtown Omaha had a payment window. From 1950 until they closed that office, they never received a threat against any personnel. And they all wore name tags and obviously no masks.
Most of these agents are poorly trained cowards. Publish the names of every ICE and CBP agent and investigate, indict and prosecute all crimes committed by these thugs.
The hotels the agents are staying at, must require names for check-in. Someone needs to publish the list of names after verifying they work for ICE.
Currently the Trump administration is suing EVERY state that refuses to provide a list of voters, including name, SS number and address. I know the attorney general for Maine has refused to turn over this information.
So why shouldn't their names and addresses be withheld from the public if they are just doing the job they are supposed to be doing? And please, no more masks or tear gassing of protestors.
BTW, where is the coward Jonathan Ross? Have they changed his name and put him in witness protection along with his family?
I am astonished that, with all the money ICE is getting from the BBB, their agents are too poor to have uniforms, or badges, or any identifying marks.
You are right that they are cowards. Cowards and pardoned crinimals including the Jan 6 rioters. They belong in jail. If they were law-abiding citizens intereste in keeping lawful citizens safe, they would be working as police. They are not. They are thugs and murderers and domestic terrorists. Our Congress needs to stop them and we need to be on the phone screaming at them until they act.
They need numbers on their backs or foreheads to serve as IDs for the war trials.
GL, I was verklempt at the news of the shooting of Alex Pretti—have been in tears throughout the day—and wondered at the character of those involved in his (yes) murder. My thought is that they will be thought of as a “new” KKK….but upon reflection, I wondered if they became agents because that was ALREADY their ideology/affiliation?
Um, Kass, perhaps a call to Kristi Noem to take care of that?
OMG! I didn't even make the connection!
🤣
For the record, I do not support the shooting for dogs for any reason. Miller and Noem on the other hand... ;)
Hello Bill... It has been Speculated that as DJT's Dementia Accelerates, Stephen Miller is playing a larger Role in Domestic Policy... Stephen Miller is Rabid, and Hateful... SM recently sold his House, and has moved onto a Military Base... Kristi Noem, and Kash Patel have as well... Hmm?... Why Would They Do This?...
I read it also. And I’m not surprised.
An open letter sent to my governor and published in our local weekly and I will present it again at a meeting of journalists on Tuesday evening. Please pass it on to your governors:
An open Letter to Governor Lamont: Will You Activate the Connecticut National Guard to Protect Residents of Connecticut?
Commentary by Bill DiMauro Katz
The Supreme Court recently ruled that Texas could gerrymander its congressional districts in order to elect a full slate of republican candidates which is in violation of the 14th and 15th amendments. The effect of this rule is to further erode rights of citizens to elect representatives.
States do have significant historic rights embedded in their constitutions. The American Revolution was founded on rebellion against an oppressive central authority and in the 18th century, it was England. Today, the nation has elected a rogue authoritarian leader that states must come to terms with. This tyrannical government can be invisible to the unwary or to those who are informed of current events, realize that our system of federal governance is for now, not representative of the people. The federal government has moved toward tyrannical behavior and will continue unabated until state governments begin protecting its residents. ICE agents (and border patrol and other federal police agencies) in the form of jack-booted and hooded thugs are routinely arresting and dragging screaming residents from the streets.
If the U.S. Supreme Court can grant extreme power to states to gerrymander, then states certainly have rights to protect its residents. Governor Lamont, will you authorize and activate the Connecticut State and National Guard to protect Connecticut residents?
Recently at a local NRZ meeting, I posed the question of protection of residents to our police chief but he seemed confused over the issue. He was not the person in authority to address this although ultimately, state and local army and police should work in tandem to protect residents.
Will you advise our Connecticut National Guard to be prepared to protect our residents from obvious extra judicial federal overreach? By assuming the lead in this response to a threatening federal government, Connecticut could take the lead and become a model for other states to follow.
Thank you.
Steven Miller inspires Trump and co. to do it the same way Israel does: act with impunity and cruelty, blame the victim, take over the "investigations" of the murders of innocents, and lie, lie lie.
If Israel can get away with it, why shouldn't the USA?
Soon we will have Netanyahu in the Congress getting standing ovations. Our administration's hero.
Like the heroes who shot the dangerous ICU nurse.
We will never know the identities of those heroes.
Case closed. Move on.
I think Miller thrives on having to watch his back.
Of course, too, Bill, he's long well practiced in watching his back.
He's long hated, feared, loathed, been paranoid of blacks, brown-skinned people, gays, uppity women, and anyone Vladimir Putin might also deem not sufficiently white, conventional, super-mainstream.
You can see the stress, accumulated tension from all this in his beady eyes.
Bill, in all my 76 yrs I have never, ever, felt such abhorrence and hate for a select group of people than I do for those in this regime …that these feeling rise in me is startling. The hippy-dippy part of me wants to collect them all for a trip up the Amazon to a weeklong shaman-led ayahuasca retreat….and then, perhaps, a news presser at the airport when they disembark. Dunno, might be interesting. ☮️
From HCR Today: "Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) had more to say: “What we just saw this morning on the streets of Minneapolis is another outright murder by federal officials. And let me just be clear, those federal ICE officers are absolute cowards. I am a Marine veteran standing here telling you to your face they are unprofessional, pathetic cowards. Because if a Marine, an 18 year old Marine, did that in Iraq in the middle of a war zone, he would be court martialed because it is murder. And you pathetic little cowards who have to wear face masks because you’re so damn scared, couldn’t even effectively wrestle a guy [to] the ground, so you needed to shoot him? This is why ICE needs to be prosecuted. Yeah, I voted to defund it, but ICE, you need to be prosecuted, and Director [Todd] Lyons, who’s running ICE right now, I hope you’re hearing this from this Marine to you. You guys are criminal thugs. You need to be held accountable to law if you think you can enforce it, and you need to be prosecuted right now.” .. ... Seth Moulton is a Man 0f Principal... He is one of my Favorite Politicians... Seth graduated Harvard with a Physics Degree, and then received his USMC Commission via USMC OCS School, and served in Iraq as an Infantry Officer... When Seth returned, he went to Harvard's JFK School of Public Service... Seth Moulton, and I are different Generations, but we share Common Ground... I Deeply Respect Him... Semper Fi...
Any statement from Representative Jared Golden (D-Maine)? Like Moulton, he is a former Marine. But as far as I now, Golden voted in favor of ICE funding – without demanding any guardrails or accountability.
Democrats must stand strong and united! In the words of Simon Rosenberg and Hopium Chronicles:
"In an ideal world, what we would see next week is a public statement signed by all Dem Governors, AGs, Senate and House Democrats that states clearly that:
–– Rule of law must be re-established in America, ICE must be reined in, and Trump’s outrageous plunder and corruption must end
– That he must back off his illegal and destructive territorial ambitions, end all these ridiculous tariffs, and re-commit to the Trans-Atlantic Alliance."
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/big-news-senate-dems-will-not-vote
In an ideal world, Republican officials would also be condemning murders by ICE —instead of trying to spin/tell us that we didn’t see what we saw.
If all elected Democrats, state-level and federal, stand united, there is a better chance of a few Republicans standing up for what is right. Recent bipartisan votes against Trump in the House and Senate are clear evidence of cracks opening up. But we have a long ways to go.
I've been incommunicado today. Thank you for this reportage, HCR.
What Carla K. said⬆️.
I have looked at the videos and I’m not seeing what CNN says about the agent pulling the gun from Alex Perretti‘s waistband. The camera from across the street seems to show the agent picking it up, they may have had Alex in a position where it fell from his backpack. Then he walks to a different position and slugs Alex with the gun twice, then the scene starts to break up and gunshots are fired. Is anybody else seeing this?
There are videos from other angles that are closer to the men involved that show this more clearly. Check CNN.
Try these, in hours or a day all the collected video will get posted. It’s there, including from the lady in pink who was standing 180-degrees opposite the first released footage, and more observers. Frame-by-frame analysis is coming online, Dropsitenews.com
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/znSKe2x2Ja0
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/customs-border-patrol-agent-kills-minneapolis-nurse-video-analysis
Bellingcat is a reliable source: “ We’ve placed the available videos of the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis today into the same synchronised timeline and are continuing to analyse further.”
https://bsky.app/profile/bellingcat.com/post/3md733zyf722w
It’s shocking. Pretti held a camera earlier and all the way into the scuffle, not a gun, so Noem was ignorant. It doesn’t appear Alex Pretti’s weapon fired, either by Pretti or misfired in the scuffle. It was retrieved by another agent and secured from the immediate scene before any shot rang out. DropSite’s slowdown of the footage by the lady wearing pink shows: the killer agent unholster his own gun, aim, and fire the first shot when Pretti was forced prone on the ground face down and had no weapon and had been whacked in the head three times (not two). And they (he) backed away and fired more. And they got in a vehicle and left shortly after as people screamed don’t let them run away! They will be ID’d soon enough, and Minnesota will proscecute. [edited]
Disgusted to call myself an American tonight. What a fucked up mess Donald Trump has made of our country! He must be stopped!
I have never been prouder to be an American. We continue to fight. From the NO KINGS, 50501, Bridge Brigades, everyday protests, writing Congress, and people bringing food to those too afraid to go out I am prouder than ever to be an American.
We are the ones in the streets fighting. There are more of us than them. And we will win.
The American people elected Trump twice and must accept responsibility for what he has done.
Trump has been lying constantly his whole life and has failed to keep numerous campaign promises and too many others to count as well but it was clear exactly who he was when he was elected the first time and even more painfully clear who he was after January 6, 2021.
Republicans failed to convict on two impeachments. The SCOTUS has enabled him at nearly every turn. But the American people must also be held accountable for every single crime he commits.
We must not forget this.
One-third the electorate didn’t have the sense God gave little green apples. It voted for a vicious, cruel, dissembling scumbag. It actually believed his idiotic lies. When he called people “vermin” it applauded. When he claimed to cure disease, end wars and lower prices, this group washed it all down with their own kool-aid.
A second group voted for unflashy sanity. The third were too busy watching Tik-Tok videos to care. And so the worst of the worst came to power — again.
I believe it was Jefferson (perhaps quoting Montesquieu, I don’t remember) who said that people mostly get the government they deserve.
Here in Minnesota, we are crying with you. And “those of us who are still here” are carrying on.
Thank you, brave Minnesotans! Shocking things are happening in Maine, too.
Annieli of Daily Kos put up a claim that Texas has 2.1 million undocumented immigrants and Florida has 1.6 million, but Minnesota has 130,000. I have not verified the figures but they are not surprising all things considered. What rational explanation could justify how these troops have been dispatched if the immigrants were really the problem?
None, JL. Except Texas and Florida are red states😡
Remember the overriding principle in hand is to create martial law. This dog and pony show has nothing to do with immigrants except in as much as they are the modern day “Jewish victims”. Immigrants are salting the gold mine.
Immigrants are doing jobs for low pay that citizens won't do.
I'd like the see ICE go into the chicken precessing plants to liberate them from dangerous filthy abusive employment. I'll bet many would love to get back to poor but clean Guatemala.
The owners of these plants pay off politicians to leave them alone.
Trump is vindictive. Hatred is his main message.
Methinks they messed with the wrong states (and the wrong governors…)
But those were the states and governors he wanted to punish! Now look what he's done!
The Trump Administration isn't just lying for all to see about another murder of a citizen. It's reveling in it, as if the grotesque act is somehow a victory.
It should be clear to everyone that Trump and his collaborating criminals have in essence declared that anyone in America could be next. For any reason, even a whim, or if a masked ICE agent is simply in a bad mood. And face not a single repercussion.
Classic tyranny, no?
I think that is the whole point of tyranny — to threaten, to ‘make an example of,’ to rely solely on fear, terror, intimidation, cruelty, debauchery. It is literally their sole message — they have no other.
We all keep wondering — is this it? Is this the straw to break the camel’s back? When will that moment come? With each perfidy, each new act of criminality and cruelty, they bring themselves closer to their own destruction.
Thank you so much, Heather. Is there no way to get through to just a dozen or so congressional republicans? They can come out of this looking like the “heroes of democracy” if that’s the optic they need. Give them a tickertape parade for god sake.
Will someone please get through to them and tell them what you just said? They can still come out of this looking good if they break with Trump and end this horror that he has unleashed. I think that this would make Vance think twice about how he would act as President. If not, they will be forever remembered as cowards and supporters of an attempt to destroy this country. It is good to see Governor Walz and Mayor Frey as such antitheses to the feds.
It should be a no brainer, Susan. But that does describe them.
A small, but telling point. If you read Pam Bondi’s snide, sniveling letter to Tim Walz, she doesn’t even bother with the formalities of state by addressing him as “The Honorable…” The letter just reads “Tim Walz.” And there is no salutation, such as “Dear Governor…” it just reads “Governor.”
The whole point was to express rudeness, condescension, belittling. It reveals who these people truly are — small, arrogant, contemptuous of everyone save themselves.
Historians do not forget such small points, for they often reveal larger truths the writers of such things don’t realize they’re broadcasting. Neither should we.
They don’t want to be heroes of democracy. There’s no money in that.
No easy money, anyway. There's little billionaire support for that one.
As much as I hate to say this, I think we’re at a point where graphic evidence as a result of their horrific violence is needed to show the public what is going on. No different from what Emmett Till’s mother did.
EXACTLY! Politicians only ever worry about the next election. They could run on "Savior of the Constitution" or "Protector of the People" and gain votes even from Democratic constituents. They need to think hard about that. It's time to stand up, Congress!
Or run on being an emotional adult. Not so "exciting" yet exciting enough with respect to where it could lead. Pandemonium gets to be a pain after a while.
Though by "adult" I don't mean stodgy. Lincoln wasn't, but he was forward-thinking, he was invested in the fate of the commonwealth over personal gain, and was very professional.
I agree in substance. But the Reps communication teams are probably urging them to get views on TikTok. So I say, let them paint themselves as "Saviors". That will get them views. Even Dems will vote for them if they "save" us.
We need a ghost of history yet to come. Republicans seem not to care a rat's behind about their "legacy".
We are that ghost. We rewrite the history the fascists want for us.
Remember. There are more of us than them. And we will win.
We are the ghost in the sense that we’re the first ones to get killed, or not. Seems like the Minneapolis people are the Canaries in the coal mine in a sense. The Republican politicians look at this and feel that unless they support it, they will undergo the same fate.
We can either stun ourselves into inaction by thinking like your first sentence or we can keep fighting back. I honestly don't think much about Republicans. They are a lost cause as far as I am concerned.
I don't call the Minnesota people by any other description than our sister and brother Americans.
We have many excellent options for fighting back on any given day. For example, yesterday I wrote my Congress people to stop funding ICE.
There are still form of resistance we can take every single day.
Yes, we all need to show up and make republican lawmakers uncomfortable by calling again and again.
I am calling Democrats. They are complicit by default and deed. Stop voting for ICE funding is the message for Democrats as well.
Again. I don't think about Republicans. They sold their souls 10 years ago and by now are immune from any sign of decency, compassion or patriotism.
I like to muse sometimes, Barbara, that the “ghosts” that ‘Rump is responsible for are “shades” surrounding him in the WH/Mara Lardo in the night…thus he can’t sleep and is driven to erratic, excitable, unhinged “tweets” as a result. A, um, haunting thought.
Will take just a handful of Republicans, Mike, to turn House over to Dems.
Yes, give those few committee chairs.
Can Dems get enough votes come November that Dems need run no candidates against Republicans who at least come close to being legit independents? (Don Bacon? Mike Lawler? Others?)
Apart from a handful of predatory Tyrants, the Trump Administration is turning the rest of the world against us. Who with half a brain thinks that that will go well? Half a brain and a particle of decency? Will the ride to the bottom still be fun if we manage to get there?
The protests will show them the problem and the letters will tell them what we want them to do about it. I think we have to show up on THEIR streets to get their attention!
If Trump can rename cabinet positions, so can we. The Department of Homeland Security is now the Department of Domestic Warfare. After all, he told us, "The enemy is within."
The Department of Domestic Terrorism, DDT, like the banned poisonous pesticide. Their goons aren’t warriors but federally-funded terrorists.
The Department of Intimidation.
It’s terror, far starker than intimidation. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/opinion/state-terror-has-arrived.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
...always appreciate Masha Gessen's thoughts.
Given that Trump has already renamed the nation his "Unified Reich," I think MAGAstapo is quite adequate.
Note: unpleasantly arthritic-fingered, I initially mistyped the above as "MEGAstapo" and of course corrected it immediately. But then I realized the Muse had blessed me with a new acronym for what the ChristoNazis are truly doing: Making Evil Godly Again.
Not Gestapo (that would be the new FBI). ICE are Stormtroopers.
You are, the Thomas Paine in my lifetime. Thank you, for giving us facts and truths and now, get some REST !
They kill, these thugs – that’s all they know to do.
Though they excel doing cruelties, too.
Donald’s a savage, goons his only friends.
But he craves chaos. To sow terror sends
agents of lawless fascism to do
whatever hurts the most, insults most, too.
Go Phil.
Maybe you could actually find something original to say — a perspective nobody’s yet mentioned — rather than continue flogging a dead horse until it turns to dust?
Or do you really think there’s someone here who needs persuading?
Please don’t be mean. This HCR community feels so low tonight. We need to be kind to each other.
We need to be smart and strategic, thinking through next steps. Especially when it is difficult to do so.
Absolutely! I plan to channel my feelings into action. I’ve already been doing all the things I know to do, but we all must do more. But for today, I need to cry and rage a bit and let those emotions loose. They will toughen me for what lies ahead. By the way, I often love your thoughtful and smart comments here. I suspect you lashed out a bit because you, too, are feeling an overload of rage and frustration and sadness. We are all hurting today.
I have been in a state of rage ever since hearing about this brutal murder. There was a pop up anti ICE protest late this afternoon in front of the Anchorage DHS offices. Around 100 people showed up, in 18F above zero, and with almost no notice, to stand in solidarity with Minneapolis. I was an ICU nurse prior to retirement, and most of my friends are also nurses, so this hits us especially hard. Very well aware that none of us are safe. Citizenship and white skin are no protection, in this fascist police state we are living in.
My experience of nurses is, a cohort, they are exceptionally caring for the people they serve. Perhaps, as a whole, the most caring profession of all.
As someone who was once under the care of ICU nurses, my respect for nurses is particularly great. All of us tonight are thinking of you, what you do and how you do it. We thank you for your dedication, professionalism and training. When I heard that Alex Pretti had been trying to protect a woman knocked down by these guys, it told me everything about this young man I needed to know.
Thank you. I just finished watching your video from earlier and really appreciated that as well. You and Joanne are holding a lot of us together 💖
Same here, Betsy5231.
Me, too, Betsy. At the end of the video, Heather, when you had to work so hard to hold on, I broke down, too. For the rest of us, today, we all feel so much - sad and angry and everything in between - but as soon as we can, we need to channel that energy into major action. If Minnesotans can protest in such frigid weather, there’s no excuse for the rest of us. When we aren’t protesting, we need to be making calls and writing postcards so that we overwhelm (and scare the bejeesus out of) lawmakers. And we need to boycott and contact the companies that support this crap. All I need to buy right now is food and whistles. ICE set up south of Atlanta this week, close to where I live. They have 75 Tahoes purchased from Hendricks Motorsports (think NASCAR), who has a number of dealerships in the South. We need to ramp up our peaceful disruptions. Stay safe. Stay peaceful. But make LOTS of good trouble. That’s tomorrow. Today, I will cry.
We mapped all the Republicans who voted to fund Alex Pretti's killers and how to call them with one click.
Did your rep vote to fund Alex Pretti’s killers? Check this map.
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/01/24/justice-for-alex-pretti-renee-good-defund-ice/
And the Frontliner Seven Corporate Democrats Who Funded Mass Deportation. Hold them accountable too.
https://thedemlabs.org/2026/01/22/the-frontliner-seven-corporate-democrats-who-funded-mass-deportation/
The Trump junta is a gang of lawless thugs. Republicans in Congress could stop this by removing Trump from office. They will not do so because they prefer to continue to kowtow to the 77 million malignant bastards that put a thug in the White House. The blame for this sad catastrophe goes squarely to the 77 million. They are enemies of humanity, every last one of them.
I agree Rex. I also maintain the congressmen who have cashed in their morality are bankrupt. They deserve to be retired to the big house with the cabinet and the shooters.
Think about removing Trump from office....his supporters are armed, are they not?
Consider his replacement? Would Steven Miller still be spouting his evil philosophies?
It's not just Trump, anymore than it's just Netanyahu..it's two rotten systems.
There are dozens of ICE agents, FBI agents, DC officials, and politicians who are busy tonight trying to cover up this murder. Will they escape justice just like the lynch mobs did? But America will never forget their public perfidy.
These were almost assuredly not ICE officials. A small, but important point that Heather herself made in an earlier podcast. They were Border Patrol — the CPB. They were Dan Bongino’s group of misfits — those with the worst human rights records, those responsible early last year for grabbing people from Venezuela off the streets and deporting them to brutal camps for terrorists in El Salvador — for a price we still know nothing about.
Part of the chaos, incompetence and misgovernance that mark this stupid, lazy, cruel, careless clique of baboons is their own purposeful mixing up of the institutions they fall back on to enforce their disorder. All Americans should be demanding to know — what is the Border Patrol doing throwing flash-bang grenades at demonstrators in downtown Minneapolis to begin with?
Can you imagine how stressed out these stupid, lazy, cruel, careless clique of baboons become, dealing with all the angry civilians? And, they have guns.
These senseless murders were inevitable.
Utterly predictable — and predicted.
I want the people in Portland Maine to stay home and hide their immigrants in their basements and keep a gun by the door to "stand their grounds".
The fire aim ready gang that couldn’t shoot straight strikes again! Now they’re killing first responders and medical professionals!? This is NOT law enforcement. This is the U.S. gestapo. I’m with the innocent citizens of Minnesota, NOT with the idiots playing God as if they are on reality TV. NOT the lying hypocritical fascists and sycophants of Delusional Donny Dumbass. NOT with false equivalence corporate “news”. Facts matter. Common sense matters. Lives of innocent people matter. Actions speak louder than words but sometimes words are all that we have. Both should be used with care. I will not say the word ‘cop’ when I’m referring to Invading Citizen Exterminators. I will not say ‘agent’ in this context, as I used to have that word in my job title and I was proud of that. I will not say America in this context because that would be an insult to Canadians and Mexicans and Venezuelans and the rest. We must ask ourselves, what have we become? My daughter is an RN who used to work in ERs So is my daughter-in-law. My son is a firefighter/ paramedic. They SAVE lives, sometimes risking their lives to do so. So this is personal to me now. I’m ready for the next peaceful protest. This does not mean that I want war on our streets. We are not gangsters. We are GOOD and innocent citizens who have compassion and care and common sense ingrained in our core. We are not out for vengeance, real or imaginary. I have never even been to Minnesota, but my heart is with them now,and also the GOOD people of Maine.
The GOOD people of Maine should all stay home and hide their immigrants in their basements.
The problem with the Democratic statement is that I don't believe Schumer as far as I can throw him. He always talks tough but then he gets his senators who are not up for re-election to vote with the Republicans.